


Leviathan

by mothprism (pastel_wendigo)



Series: The Speaker Trilogy [1]
Category: Godzilla (2014), Godzilla - All Media Types, Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Genre: Aliens Made Them Do It, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Cryptozoology, F/F, Kaiju, Mind Control, Original Character(s), Other, Project Monarch, Science Girlfriends, Tags May Change, xiliens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-03-20 08:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 85,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18988789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastel_wendigo/pseuds/mothprism
Summary: They knew the world would not be the same.A few people laughed,a few people cried,most were silent......A woman with extraordinary abilities is thrust back into a world she thought she left behind. Meanwhile, the recently outed cryptozoological agency Monarch steps into the spotlight as ancient titans begin awakening all across the world. Amidst the chaos, a family is torn further apart by a mysterious group of "environmental extremists" that have their own plans for these creatures.Monsters become gods, gods become monsters, and the future of earth hangs in the balance as they all vie for supremacy.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> ok im only putting dyad on hiatus bc godzilla is my main dude and my hyperfixation is off the fuckin shits rn so have the most self-indulgent disaster i've written to date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> how you have fallen from heaven,  
> O Morning Star, son of the dawn

Earth, 65 million years ago: Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

 

The middle brother was the first to open his eyes.

With them he beheld a strange world, foreign but not unfamiliar. Not unlike the many he had seen in his long, long life. In a matter of minutes his mind was already exiting the haze of the impact, racing with thoughts too quickly to count. With the flick of a forked tongue the dragon tasted fire and brimstone in the air. A reptilian smile, cold and calculating, sliced across his visage.

All around him was the remnants of an oasis - trees uprooted from the scorched earth, what was once a lake thriving with life was now barren, the bed of soil cracked and sizzling from the rain of fiery debris. The Golden Demise's work had already begun.

With a shrill cry, he turned to his brothers, nipping at their throats to rouse them from their disorientation. The right brother hissed, nipping back at his superior. The left brother scanned the horizon. He could feel the wave of heat from the destruction warm their scales, a surge of power growing from the tips of their talons to the edge of their wings.

With a roar more akin to a cackle, they outstretched their wings, a curtain of thunderless lightning surrounding them. It was a power the dragon took great pride in, knowing that after all their travels there wasn't a being that could ever hope to rival them.

They were inevitable.

They were the planet eater.

Suddenly, the right brother's head whipped around, lips curling into a snarl. There was a presence approaching far too quickly for it to be any of the stragglers that barely clung to life from their arrival. The middle brother's eyes narrowed, rattling their tails as he strained to look through the thick cloud of smoke that filled the crater. The left brother flared his horned crests as another of his high-pitched trills echoed through the air.

Through the hazy smoke, glowing red from the embers that fluttered around him, a bright blue light shone like a beacon through the darkness.

The middle brother felt the crackle of their lightning burning up in his throat, while the other two were simply too awestruck at the sight of opposition before them. In a matter of minutes a silhouette emerged from the haze, tall and strong and so fiercely determined. Tremors shook the earth beneath them with each step the being took. But the brothers were not so easily impressed.

" _Who -_

_\- How -_

_\- What_

**_\- dares_**."

The titan huffed, a hot puff of air rolling from their nostrils as jagged teeth formed a crooked sneer.

They had drawn close enough for the brothers to fully observe their form. The middle brother let out an incredulous snort.

_"Dull -_

_\- Slow -_

_\- Weak."_

Dozens of deep scars marred their scales, one of which ran over its left eye, leaving it white and cloudy. They were all jagged edges and coiled muscle, so different from their own regalia. The brothers were sleek, radiant from the glowing embers that clung to their gilded armor that crackled with electricity. They towered over the lizard before them, it was almost

"P _itiful -_

_\- Futile -_

_\- Comical_."

And yet the creature persisted.

The lizard nipped at the air, head tilting as it released a growl. Its amber eyes narrowed, almost seeming to scrutinize the conjoined trio ahead of it.

At that the middle head could sense his left brother's impatience growing, and with good reason. There was  _nothing_  that could ever hope to challenge them. All who dared met their fate at the brothers' hand. They had relived this scene many times before, and the brothers assured themselves that they would relive it many times more. But from beneath the ashes that covered the titan came a distinctive blue light thrumming throughout their body like a distant star. Or a warning. The brothers unleashed a cacophony of cackles. If they were good at anything, it was snuffing out stars.

With three simultaneous cries the dragon galloped forward, their wings kicking the smoldering detritus beneath them into the air. The rival narrowed their eyes, readying their stance as they leaned forward. With a sharp jerk of their head, their jaw snapped open. A thundering roar unlike anything the brothers had ever heard nearly stopped them in their tracks. It was as sharp as the being it came from, seeming to cut through the very air itself. The sound rattled their bones, shaking what remained of the trees around them for miles.

Ending with a low rumble like rolling thunder in their throat, the rival smirked.

But what is thunder without lightning?

The brothers jaws unhinged, serpentine strings of yellow energy crackling through their teeth and clinging to the lizard like thorned branches. The creature doubled over, releasing a pained cry while landing heavily on one knee. In an attempt to shield themselves, the lizard shifted, curling around so that it's rocky scutes faced the dragon.

The brother's relented, saving their lightning as they pounced on the downed figure. In one swift movement - almost graceful - the right brother's maw wrapped around the lizard's arm, teeth digging in between scales. The left brother followed, pinning the other arm. They could feel the strength in the titan's muscles, a power they had not seen in recent memory. In fact, they could not recall any being that resisted for this long. Restless and irritated, the middle brother sunk his teeth into the lizard's neck. Even this creature's unarmored flesh had endured his teeth. The dragon sunk deeper, eliciting a long wail. Finally tasting the familiar iron-laden liquid on his tongue, the brother would've smiled if he could.

The lizard thrashed, their long, spiked tail whipping about like a dying snake. They looked up, desperate eyes searching the darkened sky with a look of fear that the lizard had not felt in a long, long time.

With a deep inhale and a growing whir that even startled the dragon from their adrenaline-induced stupor, the titan opened his mouth. A blueish steam poured from their maw seconds before the dragon felt a heat sting their vulnerable chest scales. In seconds the red sky was torn apart by a spire of blue light.

The middle brother's companions laughed. The fool had missed! And the dragon was but inches away from the lizard. This fight wasn't just easy, it already had a winner.

The dragon's lightning gathered in their chest, moving up their throats before dying out completely. The right brother detected a sound - no.

A song.

Through the smog was a light that rivaled even the brothers'. It was as though a sun had somehow formed right before them out of nothing. But it was no sun, as the middle brother quickly concluded. Suns didn't possess wings.

The brothers hissed as the flying sun passed right over them, its harsh light blinding them almost completely. At that same moment pointed limbs scratched at their necks, taking a scale or two along with it. The dragon released the lizard from their grasp, attention now on the new assaulter, wings readying for flight.

With an aggravated trill, the brothers flared their wings. Unexpectedly, something called back.

The middle brother's lips curled into a snarl. What could  _possibly_  come next after this nonsense? The dragon soon found his answer in the form of talons, narrowly missing his eyes. The left brother outstretched his neck, attempting to bite at the second flying creature. But it was much too fast, far faster than the dragon had ever been.

The lizard stood back up, regaining its posture from before. This time joined by the two newcomers. As the light from the second faded as it landed on the lizard's shoulder, it revealed an elegant being that almost resembled a moth. The third landed beside the titan, this one seeming to blend in with the area around them, their skin cracked and glowing like magma given wings.

The lizard-titan roared.


	2. Ground Zero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> surely some revelation is at hand,  
> surely the second coming is at hand

Earth, 2014: Sacramento, California

 

Despite all her efforts, Elena Navarro couldn't stop herself from shaking.

"-appears that the cause of the attack was due to a...flying creature and a..large reptilian - are you sure these reports are corre -" the newscaster's voice cut off as she brought a hand to her ear piece, a look of subdued horror emerging across her face as she listened to the ongoing reports.

For a moment she had gone silent, only able to look to her co-host with her mouth agape. A silent plea towards the man sitting next to her, hoping that he would tell her that maybe, yes, this was in fact an elaborate joke.

White-knuckled, Elena set the half-empty cup of coffee on the counter as she slowly approached the sofa, all but collapsing when her eyes finally landed on the tv screen. The man sitting beside her was now speaking with one hand on an earpiece, brows deeply furrowed in confusion. Every now and then he spared quick but brief glances to his co-host and somewhere beyond the screen's point of view. Elena felt a spike of anxiety shoot through her veins like ice water.

"We're receiving word from our sources in Honolulu and the sightings have...uh, they've been confirmed -  _roll the footage._ " he spoke frantically, waving a trembling hand toward the crew behind the camera.

In an instant, the screen switched to that of a shaky phone camera. It was incredibly dim and the thin sliver the phone provided could hardly be counted as "footage" but despite this, Elena couldn't stop the wave of nausea that overtook her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't look away.

All that could be seen was a far-away view of a battle between the aforementioned lizard and winged...thing. Even through the terrible camera quality she could see the power in the creature's movements, the ferocity of every snap of its jaws and swing of its tail. She didn't need to see it up close to remember who it was. Such a being was all but forgettable.

The interview being broadcast became slurred white noise in her ears, her vision nearly fading into black had she not wrenched herself away from the sofa. As she bolted through her home, she felt a rush of chills course through her body. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she tapped on a contact, immediately pressing it to her ear as she sped down the hall. It was almost as if she were on autopilot. Her heart was caught in her throat, shoulder roughly catching on the door to her room as she sprinted for her closet. She didn't so much as flinch.

"C'mon,  _c'mon_ , pick up." she whispered through her teeth.

As she rifled through piles of clothes, she breathed a sigh of relief as the ringing on the other end of the phone stopped only to be replaced with the groggy voice of another woman.

"Hello?"

" _Lupe_ , thank god. It's happening, he.."

Her brows furrowed as her fingers struggled to find purchase against a raised bump in the wall. Finally, with one sharp tug, a small hatch opened.

"He? I don't -  _ay dios mío_  - you're not making any sense. Hello? Are you still -"

"Listen to me,  _call Rafa and Javier_. Tell them I'm on my way to..."

In the next room over, the rattled voice of the newscaster could still be heard.

_"Satellite tracking has confirmed the predicted trajectory of the reptilian's course and it is indeed heading toward the U.S. west coast."_

"Nena?"

Thin layers of cold sweat gathered along her brow as she stuck an arm into the open space, cursing when she couldn't see past the dim light of the closet. After an agonizing minute or so, her hand finally found contact with the soft - albeit dusty - surface of a satchel. Suddenly, she snapped back to the sound of her sister.

"I-I'm fine. Just..Just tell them I'll meet them at The Fort."

Guadalupe was silent, the soft sound of her breathing filling Elena's ears for a second too long to be comfortable.

"You..You don't mean..."

_"More information is sure to follow but for now, citizens of the following projected cities: be prepared and take cover."_

"He's coming." she said with a grunt, yanking the bag out of the wall and nearly tripping over her own feet as she stumbled out of the closet. "I don't have much time but please,  _please_  stay safe. And keep an eye on the news."

With a flick of her head she tossed the loosening strands of hair over her shoulder as she unclasped the buckles of the bag, quickly tugging it open. "He's not alone."

Her eyes scanned its contents - a first aid kit, a small stack of maps tightly bound together, a radio, a flashlight, random articles of clothing, a swiss army knife, a flare gun, and a handgun with two full boxes of ammunition beneath it. Elena nodded to herself, mentally checking off a list in her mind as she flipped it shut.

As she tugged the satchel over her shoulder, she mindlessly grabbed her keys, practically stumbling out of her house in a frantic daze. In a matter of minutes she had become the personification of a one-track mind.

"Elena?"

She blinked. For a moment she had forgotten about the phone stuck between the junction of her ear and her shoulder.

"Don't do anything stupid."

She paused, unlocking the door to her car as she slid in, carefully placing the bag in the passenger seat. A small, tight-lipped smile appeared across her face.

"I'll talk to you later." she spoke softly, setting her phone down next to her.

As she drove down a seemingly endless stretch of highway, Elena gripped the wheel with all the force in her body. The sound from the radio barely reached her but she still couldn't stop the goosebumps from spreading throughout her body.

"This just in: the winged creature spotted in Honolulu, Hawaii has now made land in San Francisco followed by the reptilian and another giant unidentified organism. Conflict is inevitable, evacuate immediately."

 

_____

 

Earth, 2014: San Francisco, California

 

"That was the worst idea we've had in years."

Jodie ran her hands down her face, fingers catching on the tips of her eyelids as she stared blankly ahead at the darkened pane of glass ahead of her. Gill leaned over to her, shoulders squared and head firmly facing the same wall.

" _Oh_ , I get it, leaking government documents is  _totally_  fine but when I ask you to film a giant lizard you draw a line in the sand." she whispered, angrily pushing her glasses farther up her nose.

Jodie threw her head backward, shaking her head as tired chuckles spilled from her lips. "Don't start with that again, you know what I'm trying to -"

The door behind them opened with a creak, the metal of its hinges scraping at a painfully slow rate. Gill stayed looking at her hands, fingers tangling themselves as her nerves kept her frozen. Try as she might, Gill couldn't appear serious if her life depended on it. Jodie's head snapped around, looking at the man and woman entering the room.

She recognized the figures as the same ones that approached them on that bridge just mere hours earlier. The same ones that had somehow convinced (or rather,  _bribed_ ) the two to join them in what was definitely some sort of rendezvous to a secret location. Gill had been too awestruck with the sight of the giant amphibian to notice the pair approach them. And Jodie herself had been too distracted with catching the so-called "king of the monsters" (as every mainstream news site had decided to run with that title with little afterthought) on camera. Jodie had nearly thrown her canon at them when she heard the man's meek "excuse me" from behind her.

Jodie straightened her posture as Gill adjusted her glasses with a gulp when the two official-looking figures pulled out the chairs across from them. The woman cleared her throat before folding her hands in front of her.

"Do you know why we brought you here?"

Jodie and Gill gave each other a passing glance before looking back at the woman. Gill's mouth hung open as she searched for words that wouldn't get her and her girlfriend arrested for what must've been the second time that year. Jodie leaned against the chair and stared at the table's metal surface. Nearly a thousand different reasons why they could've possibly been taken into custody ran through her mind. Was it the leaks? Which leak was it? They've been whistleblowers for years, it could be anything. Oh god, was it the  _podcast_?

The man leaned forward.

"I am Dr. Ishiro Serizawa," he nodded toward his partner. "And this is Dr. Vivienne Graham. We're both with an organization that we've been told you've had previous encounters with."

Gill's eyes widened as she leaned closer to Jodie, lowering her voice. "Are they the FBI? They don't look like FBI." Jodie shushed her.

Graham hid a smile as she looked off to the side.

Serizawa remained unfazed. "We are aware of your previous...infractions."

"But there's no need to be nervous, you aren't in trouble with us."

Serizawa's eyes flickered over to Graham and vice versa as though they were having their own private conversation within the confines of their minds. Jodie's eyes passed back and forth between them.

"Not anymore, at least. In fact we'd like to discuss something that might be of your best interest." Graham said in a calm voice.

"We want to talk to you about Project Monarch."

 

_____

 

Earth, 2014: San Francisco, California

 

It had all happened so fast -  _too_  fast - for Madison Russell to process, but what she was sure of was that the world was dark and she was scared.

And yet she refused to bury her head in her mother's shoulder as she called out for her brother amidst the burning rubble. Where  _was_  Andrew? They had all been together, she was sure of it. Coughing from the black smoke rising from the ground all around her, her eyes hit the floor as a sudden emergence of tremors shook the earth before them. In an instant her parents' cries for her brother ceased, as did the muffled shouts from the group of firemen and police all around them. But it was no earthquake.

Her mother gasped, eyes widening with what seemed to her a mix of fear and something else. Wonder? Madison resisted when she felt her familiar hand attempt to coax her eyes away from the creature. But instead her gaze trailed upward, following the scaly outline of a leg about the size of one of the buildings around it. Her eyes went further upward, so far that she had to crane her neck at an uncomfortable angle to see the face of the creature that caused all of this. At least, that's what she heard her father say just a few hours earlier. But she didn't believe it, not fully. There were those other things too that had caused most of the damage. And this thing...(in an attempt to remember what her mother called it, Madison's brows furrowed) Godzilla? Godzilla.  _It wasn't entirely their fault_ , she thought as she rested her head against her mother's.  _They were just too big, and we're just too small_. It reminded her of that one summer when she went on a picnic with her family, when she and her brother wandered off to play in a nearby pond filled with tadpoles and water beetles. Only for her to run crying to her mother when she accidentally stepped on an anthill. She didn't  _mean_  to. So maybe there was a chance Godzilla thought the same thing.

As she watched the lumbering mountain slowly make its way to San Francisco Bay, she felt a sudden wave of fatigue overtake her. Madison yawned. Maybe by the time she woke up they would've found Andrew already. Then she could tell him all about her close encounter with a titan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just wanna say thank u sm for reading this !! after finally watching kotm over the weekend my enthusiasm for this fic has only increased so i think it's safe to say that i'm gonna try to put out at least one chapter a week so look forward to that !! as always you can find me on tumblr @ takenbytheweeds if u wanna see any of the dumb shit i get into between writing


	3. Reconnect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> from the smoke came locusts on the earth,  
> they were told not to harm the grass or the trees,  
> but only those of mankind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> got nothing much to say other than this is a long one and thank u for keeping up with this !! i'm gonna try to post a new chapter every monday so keep an eye out for that

Earth, 2019: Monarch Outpost 61 - Yunnan Rainforest, China

 

Madison stared at her laptop screen with an empty expression, headphones blasting a song that had become nothing but white noise in her ears.

As she scrolled through dozens of emails - most of which consisted of newsletters and petitions crooning about the next animal to make it to the endangered list, climate change, and the overall hubris that is the current government, among other things - what had her chewing her lip with nerves was a single email, short and sweet, from her father. How a single "How's it going?" could make her so nervous, she would never know. With a deep inhale, she clicked on the message.

 _Hey Madison,_  
_Haven't heard from you guys in a few months. Hope you're having fun. Here are a few pics of the wolves I've been studying. Aren't they cute?_  
_Love,  
_ _Dad_

Below were three photos of gray wolves, one of which showed two pups play-fighting with each other in the middle of a grassy field. As she continued scrolling down, her eyes widened, narrowing as she continued on. It was a photo of her? But she was much younger, 10 at the oldest. The next featured her father as well, proudly holding up what looked like a fairly small trout while she smiled next to him. A small grin appeared on her face.

She remembered that day, how her father sacrificed a weekend where he was supposed to be out doing field work but instead spent it with her in the form of a fishing trip. While they hadn't caught much, she remembers insisting on releasing what they  _did_  catch almost immediately afterward. But not before getting quick pictures for memory's sake.

Madison typed, slowly at first but she could feel all the words she wanted -  _needed_  - to say spill forth. She reeled them in.

 _Hey dad,  
_ _Sorry I haven't written back. I miss you, but there's something I want to talk to you about...I'm getting worried about mom_ _._

An alarm blared in her ears, startling her out of focus with a jump.

"Shit." she whispered harshly under her breath, throwing her headphones on the counter.

As she turned to look at the source of the smoke slowly but surely filling her senses, the fire underneath the pan licked at her hands. Her trail of expletives only increased.

Grabbing the pan with no afterthought, she winced, nearly burning her hand on the stovetop when the fire underneath only increased in intensity. Quickly flicking the thin blackened strips of what used to be bacon onto a plate, she heard the patter of footsteps quickly approaching from behind.

"Maddie?"

"Uhhh, good morning?"

As Madison hurriedly ran the charred pan under a thin stream of water in the sink, Emma Russell turned off the stove with a flick of her wrist, grabbing a rag from the counter and blowing away the thick cloud of smoke that had formed in her kitchen. Madison opened a window.

"I made us breakfast!"

"I can see that." she said with a tired chuckle, turning off the alarm.

"It's, uh..eggs, toast, and.." her voice trailed off, scrunching her nose as she looked at the strips that resembled sticks of charcoal more than anything. "Bacon?"

Emma's eyes flicked to the toaster, popping out the two slices before they too became little more than a smoldering pile.

"Well, which do you recommend?" she said with a smile, eyes crinkling with amusement.

"How about we just skip the bacon?" Madison laughed.

"Sounds good," Emma said, picking up a plate, voice softening with sincerity. "Thank you."

Madison gave her a tight-lipped smile and grabbed the second plate, turning around and shutting the laptop in front of her.

"Coffee?" she asked as she poured herself a cup. Emma nodded, resting her head in her hand and glancing down at the sticker-coated laptop. There was an unmistakable fatigue in her eyes, a look that Madison had become all too familiar with.

It was always like that around this time of year. She knew her mother had been staying up into the late hours of the night, almost treading early morning, for the past couple days or so working on that project of hers. Her mother had always seen it as some sort of salvation, a way to undo the mistakes that had already been done. But as it sat there on the counter right next to her, Madison only saw it as a reminder of a time she had tried so hard to forget.

"What were you working on?"

Madison bristled. "I was just looking at recipes."

"For toast?" Emma took a swig of the coffee. It was bitter and watery.

Madison worried at her lip once more. "Dad's been," she scratched the back of her head. "He's been emailing me again."

Emma sighed, picking at the cold eggs with a fork.

"But he looks good, healthy I mean."

"Have you responded?"

"Not yet."

"Madison, I just - You know I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I know." she said between mouthfuls of eggs and toast.

"Especially with everything that's going on right n-"

"I  _know_." she downed it with a sip of coffee, swallowing a gag from the bitter aftertaste.

"Listen, I know things haven't been easy, but we're gonna get through this." she leaned forward. "Together."

Madison stayed silent, unwilling to look her mother in the eye. "You sure he's gonna be okay?"

"He's in the safest place he can be right now."

Madison looked up, skeptical. Rubbing her arms from a sudden chill, Emma turned to the side, placing a hand on what looked like a bulky suitcase emblazoned with the signature Monarch logo on the front.

"Wanna hear some good news?"

Madison shrugged.

"I finished it." she said, pushing her chair in.

"Really." she had heard this many times before. "You think it'll work this time?"

Emma nodded slowly. "It's gonna work."

Suddenly, the ground shook. Chair and tables rattled as glasses clinked together, sloshing its contents and spilling over the counter. The lights that hung from the ceiling waved around in circles. Madison gripped the table. And with a shrill cry like that of a hundred birdsongs, the tremors ended. Emma gazed out the window, brows furrowing. Madison joined her, still trembling.

"It's gonna be okay." Madison whispered under her breath.

Emma put an arm around her shoulder.

Static sounded out of nowhere as she quickly reached for the radio at her side.

_"Dr. Russell? We've got a problem."_

"I'm on my way."

Outside in the heart of the Yunnan Rainforest, all the creatures that dwelled in its depths chittered with unrest. Something was coming.

_____

"What the hell happened?"

"No idea." the doctor was out of breath, attempting to balance the tablet in his hand and a radio in the other. "She was sleeping like a baby until an hour ago then -  _boom_  - radiation levels went through the roof. Almost like something triggered it."

Madison dragged behind, one hand on the strap of her backpack and the other still tugging a hand through the arm of her oversized jacket. She didn't think she'd ever get used to the scenery of this place, how the vines that wove through the temple like lace seemed to crawl on their own. She could swear they were in a different position every time she walked through that narrow tunnel.

"Thanks, Tim. You should get some rest, I can take it from here."

He stopped dead in his tracks, almost in disbelief. "Sleep or no sleep, I'm not missing this."

As the two doctors carried on, Madison hung back, staring in awe at the intricate relief carved into the stone of the temple's wall. When she and her mother first got stationed at Outpost 61, there was nothing but a curtain of hardy vines and aggregated dirt. But now it told a story that Madison could only begin to understand. Two workers clad in sterile blue suits that covered nearly every inch of their body fussed carefully, scraping away plant matter and other detritus away from the architecture. They had been at it for weeks, but she couldn't imagine having that kind of patience. She walked up to their side, tilting her head with a curious gaze.

On the wall was a moth, a  _giant_  moth, with what looked like two equally large larva at its side. Below them were vastly smaller figures that looked to be humans bowing in supplication before them. At the forefront of the group were two identical feminine figures standing next to each other with their arms outstretched toward the giant moth. It was an odd sight.

"'Sup, Mads?"

She jumped, startled out of her daze. It was Dr. Gillian, leaning next to her and staring up at the relief with a fondness that a parent would have looking at their child.

"Did I scare you?" she spoke with a chuckle, lowering the surgical mask.

"No." she comically glowered at her before having her already messy hair tousled.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine it's just.." she sighed, adjusting the backpack strap. "It's been a morning."

"I hear that." Gill stood back, crossing her arms and joining Madison in her deep fascination of the relief.

"Beautiful, isn't it? If I saw something like that I know  _I'd_  hail it as a god."

"It's just an animal, though."

Gill shrugged. "I dunno. These things are a lot smarter than we give 'em credit for."

As she faced the window, looking out into the containment cell, Madison followed her gaze. "Imagine the stories they could tell."

Over the speakers, a grainy voice echoed throughout the temple.  _"Containment team, move into position."_

Madison and Gill glanced at each other, moving closer to the array of monitors where a handful of scientists stood huddled together. Behind the pane of glass was a giant sac, pulsing with a bright blue light. And something else.

"Have you tried sedatives?" Emma brushed her bangs to the side, adjusting the mic on her headpiece.

"No effect. This thing  _wants_  to be born."

_"Proceed with utmost caution."_

Madison walked up to the glass, mouth agape at the lightshow.

Sighing, Emma placed a hand on her shoulder, a warm expression spreading across her face. "Her time has come."

In that moment, the sac burst, falling away as though it were nothing but a hardy blanket as the larva rose like a pillar. The lab was silent, each breath caught in the throats of the people that witnessed the birth of a creature once considered a goddess. The pulsing grew with intensity, a humming filling the chamber as the larva was finally free of her slumber.

Gill brought a shaking hand to her brow, giggling with disbelief at the sight of something so precious - so rare.

The larva's limbs shivered, mandibles clicking with curiosity as ribbons of light trailed up and down her back. She had seen this place before. And something built within the deepest parts of her psyche told her that she would see it many times after. The larva turned around, looking down at the small hazmat-clad beings like one would look at a lost puppy.

"Meet Titanus Mosura." Tim spoke with reverent pride. "Or as we like to call her-"

"Mothra." Madison and Gill said in unison. They laughed.

"Incredible.." Emma whispered.

 _"Activating containment grid."_  said an automated voice.

In an instant, dozens of beams shot up from the ground, surrounding the larva. The larva winced, trilling with confusion. Innocently, she brought a pointed arm to the grid, pushing at it with caution. She lowered her head, forcing her way through the field but setting off a series of warnings as the grid now glowed a bright red. As quickly as the grid was turned on, it was shut off. As the AI blared a series of "Warning's", Emma turned around to the team of scientists behind her in frustration.

"What's happening?"

The larva released a shrill cry, thrashing about in the small space she was confined to. She was afraid. Below her the security team readied their stun rifles, aiming directly at her. A look of fear washed over Tim's face as he looked over the shoulder of one of the Monarch scientists.

"Something's going wrong here. Th-The containment systems are failing, perimeter alarms are going off - the whole network's going  _insane_!"

"What do you mean? How is that even possible?"

Tim lowered his voice, worry palpable in his tone "This isn't from anything on our end, I-I think someone else is doing this."

Within the cell the larva continued its frightened rampage, limbs tearing at the walkway beneath it.

"Containment team, stand down. I repeat,  _stand down_ , you're scaring her!" Emma yelled into her mic.

As one of the guards aimed his rifle at the larva, trigger finger catching on the handle and releasing a short but audible spark, the larva stared down at him. Something in her demeanor changed, her blue light shifting to a deep, angry red. She huffed. Like flicking a crumb off a table, the man flew from the walkway to the exit door with a loud thud with the flex of the larva's arm.

With a yell, another guard pointed his rifle at the larva, this time giving no room for hesitation. The shot found its mark, hitting the larva dead center in her chest. As she writhed in pain from the electricity, she released a cry that made Madison's ears ring. Gill stood next to her in complete shock, hands covering her mouth as she looked to the team scrambling to make sense of the situation and back at the larva.

The larva also showed no hesitation, shooting a thick strand of silk at the men, catching four of them in the sticky web that covered the containment chamber. The rest had decided the fight was no longer worth it, no fight was when dealing with a titan. As they sprinted for the exit, one tripped, finding his leg caught between the mandibles of the larva herself. He screamed as he was lifted into the air, hitting the web with a thud.

With a haunted look on his face, Tim opened a glass lid, hand hovering over a red button. Gill grabbed his wrist, betrayal in her voice.

"NO!"

"I'm sorry, but you know the protocols, we  _have_  to terminate her."

" _Don't_ , I'll handle this." Emma said, the same bulky suitcase tucked tightly under her arm.

Madison's heart caught in her throat, grabbing the hem of her mother's lab coat without thinking. " _Mom-_!"

"Madison, stay here" she nodded assuredly. "It's gonna work."

Emma pressed her clearance badge through the door's scanner, locking it behind her. A rush of sterile mist covered her and she took a deep, shaky breath through her nose. Her hands thrummed along the surface of the object she held. This wasn't just going to work, it  _had_  to.

Within the cell the larva writhed, confusion, anger,  _hurt_  wracking her body as her senses quickly became overwhelmed with chaos. So much for the birthday party.

"It's okay.." Emma whispered. She wasn't sure if that was for herself or the larva.

Slowly, she walked down the aisle, shoulders squared. The larva looked directly at her, hunched over and defensive. Even as a juvenile she was intimidating. Emma continued walking before the larva shook the walkway once more, nearly knocking her to her feet had she not caught the railing in the nick of time.

Behind the glass, Madison gripped Gill's arms as they stayed protectively wrapped around her. As Emma knelt down, setting the case on the floor of the walkway, the larva rose. She knew of the power she contained, rattling the carapace plates and snapping her mandibles at the woman as red-orange lights glowed from within her. She opened the case, eyes blinking rapidly between the larva and the device's unfolding panels. It whirred as it started itself. Emma tapped at the screen in a frenzy, trying as fast as she could to find the frequency she needed. Soon enough, with the right flick of a button the device released a sound, but the words on the screen that read "Analyzing Specimen Bioacoustics" had not changed. Emma cursed as the device released a series of pulses not unlike the ones the larva made, but not quite the same. The larva shook its head to rid itself of the noise, shooting a tendril of silk at Emma and just barely missing her before she could duck for cover. Madison wrenched herself free from Gill's grip, banging her hands on the glass.

"Mom!"

Emma returned to the device, shutting off the volume and scanning for a new frequency. Her mind raced, a thin layer of sweat gathering across her brow before she ducked to the side, once again narrowly missing being caught in a web. Madison's face scrunched in frustration and fear, turning around and snatching the badge off of Gill's coat.

"Hey!"

"Madison, wait!"

Gill and Tim ran for the girl but she was much too fast, pressing the badge to the scanner and slipping through the door in one swift motion. She locked it shut just before the two could pry it open.

In horror, Emma saw Madison rush towards her.

"Maddie, go back!"

The larva roared, anger and confusion imminent.

"NO!"

Without thinking, almost as if it were instinct, Madison stood between her mother and the newly born titan. Her arm raised out in defense. She could hear her mother still messing with the object she had brought with her, hoping that somehow it would work and save them both. Madison shut her eyes as the larva dove at them, digging her nails into the palm of her balled fist as she stayed standing. Tears stung at the edges of her eyes.

Like her brother, this was how she was going to die.

But nothing came.

Madison opened her eyes one at a time, gasping when she saw that the room was slowly but surely fading from red to blue. The larva was frozen as well, standing still as her limbs quivered close to her body. Slowly, it bent down, leaning forward to look closer at the small, bold being before it.

"What in the world.." Tim said in utter disbelief.

The bright blue lights thrummed throughout the larva's body in a way that reminded Emma of all the times she calmed Madison when she could only speak in gibberish.

"It's gonna be okay." Madison whispered, edging herself closer to the larva.

In that moment, Madison felt small. Smaller than the time she went on a roller coaster with her father at a carnival one weekend that ended up getting stuck at the top of a fairly high drop. Smaller than the time she had accidentally swam out past a sand bar at the beach. Swept up in the current far out enough that she couldn't reach the bottom and having to be fished out by some random bystander that happened to be nearby. In that moment, as she gazed into the bright eyes of the larva - no,  _Mothra_  - she understood that she was in the presence of something far, far bigger and far, far older than she could ever hope to understand.

Mothra knelt, curiously sniffing the tiny hand that reached out for her.

Shutting the device closed, Emma jumped, protectively grabbing Madison's arm. As the girl looked back, a wave of calm so sudden it frightened her washed over her face. Her grip loosened.

The larva was practically pressing her head into the girl's palm, and with a stretch of her fingers, she brushed the surface of her carapace. In that instant something clicked within Madison's mind. She couldn't quite put a name to it, but the words were just at the tip of her tongue. It was almost as if something - or someone - was pushing those words directly into her brain.

Mothra hummed, releasing a warm puff of air into the duo's faces that pushed them back a few feet. Madison smiled as the tear that had gathered at the edge of her eye rolled down her cheek.

Emma looked back into the lab, a mix of confusion and awe peppering everyone's faces.

But in that same second, a loud blast shook the temple with an ugly crash, followed by the sound of gunfire. Madison gasped, falling into her mother's arms as the larva quickly raised itself, defensively draping its body over the pair.

Madison couldn't see inside the lab, but the sound of bodies hitting the floor after every gunshot left little to the imagination. She sat still, allowing her mother to cradle her.

Tim was standing directly in front of the pane of glass when a bullet shot through his head, shattering the window. This time Madison did scream, curling into her mother's hold as she turned her head away seconds too late. The larva roared as a man dressed head to toe in black stepped through the glass and onto the walkway, followed by a group of men and women in a similar uniform, each holding what looked like assault rifles.

The man looked up at the young goddess with an unreadable expression, almost as if he had been expecting to see an insect the size of a building. Slowly, his gaze wandered down, meeting eyes with Madison herself. She shivered, but something about the man made an ugly, angry feeling burn within her.  
  


Earth, 2019 - Wichita, Kansas

 

Elena poured herself a second cup of coffee, stirring in two spoonfuls of sugar and a shot of creamer in an almost robotic manner.

This time of the year always weighed heavily in her mind, and despite the overabundance of coverage all across the globe she did her best to avoid it. This year, however, she found ignoring it especially hard. As she flipped through channels, she stared ahead from across the room with a blank face, jaw tightening the more she carried on.

_"Thousands gathered in the bay area last night to honor the victims of the 2014 attacks -"_

_" - part of the waves of memorials - and protests - demanding that the secretive monster-hunting coalition known as Monarch be held accountable."_

_"The recent spike in mass die-offs in the world's oceans could be caused by efforts to locate and track Godzilla, who hasn't been seen in nearly five years. The U.S. government refuses to disclose any involvement at this time."_

_"The mysterious organization - Monarch - is set to face another intense grilling as U.S. senators continue to push for extermination of the titans. And rumors persist that Monarch may be hiding even more creatures discovered since the attacks of 2014, a historic tragedy that changed the world as we know it forever - the day the world discovered that monsters are real."_

With a sharp intake of air Elena shut off the tv, tossing the remote back on the counter and taking a large gulp of coffee.

It had been 5 years. 5 long years since the horror of her childhood was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. And with it came a flood of memories that even now she was still sorting out. She groaned, rubbing her eyes.

Deep breaths. Monarch is in the past. Your life is your own now. Just breathe.

She repeated those words in her mind in an endless loop, to the point where they melded into nothing but a string of meaningless sounds.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

She flinched at the sound. Brows furrowing, Elena carefully placed the mug on the counter, staring intently at the direction of the door. There was a second knock. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she stepped towards it, slowly - quietly. Before she could stand on the tips of her toes a third knock sounded from beyond the door, followed by muffled voices that almost seemed to be bickering if she listened closely enough. Confusion settling in with the quiet fear that burgeoned in her stomach like a swarm of frantic butterflies, she looked through the small peephole that sat just beneath the door's window.

Through it, she saw two figures. One of which was a woman sporting a platinum blonde crew cut, wearing a blank expression save for her lips twisting to the side with impatience. Accompanying her was a dark-haired man with a similar hairstyle, looking far more irritated than her. They both wore similar black uniforms, the collar reaching all the way up to their necks. An odd choice for a sunny May morning.

"We know you're there, Ms. Navarro." the woman spoke with a raised voice, what sounded like an English accent peppering her words. Their eyes connected through the peephole. Reluctantly, Elena opened the door, fingers moving from one lock to another, to another, and to another, eventually stopping on the chain that held the door to the wall. The woman was much taller than she expected.

"Yes?" Elena gulped. "What do you want?"

The man shifted his position, eyes briefly glancing up at the woman before staring ahead.

"Just a moment of your time. We're journalists looking for a civilian's introspective on the 2014 attacks, that's all."

Her voice was so steady, smooth even - like hearing running water. Elena swallowed a gasp when she found her hand hovering above the last of the locks. She closed her hand into a fist.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested."

The woman smiled but it did not reach her eyes.

"We'll pay you." the man chimed in.

"I said I'm not interested, thank you."

As Elena went to shut the door, the woman's foot jutted through the entrance, boot scraping against the floor. A sharp chill ran down her spine.  In a hushed, shaky voice, she looked at the woman.

".....Are you with Monarch?"

Almost immediately the pair's demeanor changed to that of barely restrained amusement. Somehow, that didn't make Elena feel any better.

"We're not with any of your government organizations, Ms. Navarro. There's no need to worry."

Elena paused for a moment, staring at the two figures before her lips tightened to a thin line.

"Well, thank you for your interest but I'm not interested, sorry. Have a good day." she spoke in a rushed tone.

As she went to close the door again, the woman's boot remained unphased. Elena could barely form a sound in her throat before the woman motioned to the man with a tilt of her head, instantly raising his leg and slamming the foot of his boot against the door. It only took one good kick to its center to send the steel chain flying along with the door, knocking Elena on her back several feet backward.

Her heart was slamming against her chest as she struggled to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her. Her shoulder throbbed where the door had connected with it, but there was no time to dwell. As Elena scrambled to her feet, the woman calmly stepped over the fallen door as the man stomped his way into her home, standing above her with a cold air around them.

Before she could slip away, the woman sprung forward, arms latching around her own as she pulled them taut behind her back. She could feel her breath hit hair that draped down her back.

"It'll be easier for you if you just comply with -"

With a growl, Elena's head shot backward, connecting with the woman's chin. One hand left her grasp while the other stayed clamped around her arm, but within seconds Elena had wrenched herself free, clawing at the other woman's hand.

The man was already in action, arms reaching for her but missing their mark when Elena ducked under him, sliding along the floor and springing back up on her feet. As she sprinted up the stairs to her room, she released a grunt when her arm caught on the railing, already feeling a bruise forming along her shoulder.

"Useless." the woman spoke through gritted teeth.

She could barely hear their hurried steps quickly gaining behind her over the sound of her pulse beating through her chest. But after what felt like ages she finally reached her room, shutting and locking it behind her before diving into her closet.

Mere seconds had passed before she heard slowing footsteps just outside of the room. Cursing to herself, she pressed a panel on the wall with her fist, impatiently shoving her hands into the secret space and pulling out a weathered bag. As she rifled through it, she heard the woman's footsteps cease.

"You did this to yourself, Elena. If you hadn't been so  _difficult_  .."

The doorknob jiggled, and for a second Elena thought she had lost all ability to breathe. Finally, she pulled out the object she had been looking for. But in that same moment, there was a deafening crash as the door slammed to the ground, followed by a pair of heavy footsteps. As the woman rounded the corner to the closet, Elena aimed -

"It wouldn't have escalated, now, would it?"

\- her flare gun. Shit.

The woman showed no emotion when she shot Elena, a jolt of electricity coursing through her body as she faded into unconsciousness.


	4. The Folly of Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we cannot command nature  
> except by obeying her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> saw kotm for the 3rd time yesterday lmao (and also bought the novelization !! it's actually pretty interesting and has a lot of new stuff that couldn't fit into the film)  
> once again thank u for reading !!

U.S. Capital - Washington, D.C.

Jodie's grip on her recorder tightened when the sound of Godzilla's distinctive atomic breath whirred throughout the room.

On the screen beside her, she found it difficult to look away from the archival footage of the carnage that had unfolded in San Francisco all those years ago. It was mesmerizing in some awful, morbidly fascinating way. Before she could lose herself in the sight of the giant amphibian going toe-to-toe with one of the MUTOs, the sound of her colleague clearing his throat snapped her back to attention. Squaring her shoulders, she pressed a button on her recorder.

"What we are witnessing here, Senators, is the return of an ancient and forgotten super-species. Godzilla, the MUTOs, Kong.."

Despite the confident tone in his voice, she didn't miss the way his hands fumbled with the projector remote as he began the presentation. She tensed, trying to reassure herself that they had both spent hours beforehand practicing his opening speech.

Jodie and the other three - Coleman, Serizawa, and Graham - were loathe to admit how nervous they were for this hearing. They were no stranger to them, and this was just one of many sure to come. But out of the dozens they had been forced to attend this was one of the more important ones. Tensions were at an all time high, and as the days went on it was only growing stronger between Monarch and the government.

"And they're just the tip of the iceberg. We believe that these 'titans' and others like them provide an essential balance to our world - a keystone species if you will. And while some  _may_  pose a threat, Monarch is uniquely prepared to determine which of these titans are here to threaten us, and which of these titans are here to protect us."

Exasperated, the head committee chair - Senator Claire Godine - rolled her eyes.

"Thank you for the 5th grade history lesson, Mr. Coleman."

With a curt nod, he smoothed his jacket, fiddling with his cuffs as he sheepishly looked around the room. Returning to his seat beside Dr. Graham, Jodie bit the inside of her cheek. This was already going about as well as she expected.

"But we still haven't heard one good reason why Monarch shouldn't fall under military jurisdiction. Or why these creatures shouldn't be exterminated."

Jodie's jaw tightened.

In front of her she could see Dr. Serizawa twitch, head turning ever so slightly to glance across at Admiral Stenz, who was already looking at him out of the corner of his eye. She hoped they would avoid conflict at least once during these types of meetings, but at this point such an event seemed highly unlikely.

"Monarch was tasked with finding and destroying these radioactive monsters," Godine continued. "But you either can't or won't tell us how many there are or why they're showing up. So, maybe it's time for the military to put them down."

"Killing them would be a mistake."

Shit.

"They returned because of us." the frustration in his voice was just barely contained. Jodie always wondered how he could always seem so collected. Though, it seemed she spoke too soon, as his tone was gradually increasing in intensity.

"It was our atomic testing that woke Gojira. Other creatures like the MUTOs? From strip mining and seismic surveys. But these are  _not_  monsters, they are animals rising to reclaim a world that was once theirs!"

"It almost sounds like you're protecting them, Dr. Serizawa," the senator retorted with a smug smile. "As if you admire them."

"I admire all forms of life." he said slowly through gritted teeth.

The room was silent.

But before anyone could break the silence the sound of Serizawa's chair sliding out filled the room as he stood as steadfastly as he always had.

Jodie bit at her nails before quickly placing her hand back on her lap. Out of all of Monarch's recent hearings this one was the fastest to escalate by far. It frustrated her, how these people wouldn't -  _couldn't_  - understand the gravity of the situation they believed to be dealing with. And they never could, not when their days were spent sitting safe and secure away from the problems a decision like this would inevitably cause. If she could only speak up rather than just document what was happening before her, those senators wouldn't be so bold.

"Senators..if we hope to survive, we must find ways to coexist with titans. With Gojira."

"A sort of symbiotic relationship, if you will. Like the lion and the mouse." Graham - ever his loyal protégé - chimed in, nervously looking between the senators and Serizawa as he settled back into his seat.

"Or the scorpion and the frog."

Stiffly, Graham folded her arms on the table in front of her. Behind her, Jodie's eyes were shooting daggers at the senator.

"So you'd want to make Godzilla our pet?" Godine said, looking to her colleagues incredulously.

With the straightest face possible, Serizawa spoke without missing a beat. "No...we would be  _his_."

The senators laughed.

Deep in her heart she knew he wasn't joking. If there was anyone on the planet that took titans as seriously as one could, it was Serizawa. Yet, in subdued horror and just a twinge of embarrassment, Jodie raised her eyebrows, lips curling into each other. While she normally agreed with anything the man said, sometimes she wished he was able to reel in his more... _passionate_  side during crucial events. Rubbing her eyes, she stared down at her feet. This couldn't get any worse. Her skin crawled when she heard Coleman's desperate attempt to salvage the hearing.

"Uhh...n-no, no actually," Coleman laughed with a jittery lilt to his voice. "That's not what Dr. Serizawa meant. No one's implying that we would be Godzilla's - or anyone's -"

Almost as though the universe itself could read her thoughts, she felt a soft vibration in her pocket. Quietly, she pulled out her phone to find a string of Monarch alerts.

Once again, she had spoken too soon.

Eyes wide, she shot up from her seat, rapidly tapping on Graham's shoulder while thrusting her phone between the two doctors. As Serizawa's eyes slowly widened in shock, all the color drained from Graham's face. Coleman, oblivious, remained stuttering after himself.

" _Sorry,_ " she whispered to him under her breath. " _We have to go_."

As Jodie bolted out of the room, shutting off the recorder and stuffing it into the pocket of her blazer, she heard the quick shuffling of the two doctors behind her. Her heart was beating loud in her chest.

"Dr. Serizawa, Dr. Graham, this hearing is not adjourned.  _Dr. Serizawa_!"

"Um -" Coleman nervously looked around the room, suddenly finding himself alone.

"I hope you understand the consequences of walking out that door!"

"You know what, senators? While I confer with my colleagues here," he spoke, pulling out the remote from his pocket. "I'm gonna set you up with a very brief - and pretty fun - documentary on titan reproduction.  _I think this is the one where the genitals are blurred out_   - but if not you can leave a comment with my assistant."

"Mr. Coleman!" the senator called out as he quickly excused himself from the room, pace quickening as his colleagues left the room.

Godine sat back in her chair with a tired sigh. She could never figure out those Monarch officials. And maybe, she thought, she never would.

"So I suppose that gives us the go-ahead by default?"

Admiral Stenz turned to the man to his left, speechless with shock.

Looking ahead at the exit doors as they swung closed, the senator nodded coldly. "I suppose that does. Project O will proceed as planned. This hearing is now adjourned."

_____

If the throbbing headache hadn't woken her first, it would've been the hushed voices around her trying so hard to be quiet.

Elena's eyes opened one by one, squinting in the dim lighting of the room she appeared to be in.  _God_ , her head hurt. And if that wasn't enough, the bruise on her arm had definitely flowered into something nastier, as she braced her arm against the floor she was met with buckling nerves. With great effort she sat up with a grunt, wincing at the soreness that seemed to sink itself into every muscle in her body. The floor was cold, and wherever she was it looked like a storage room what with all the large crates all around her. After settling in the most comfortable position she could find against the metal surface, she looked around.

Suddenly, the voices stopped.

Locking eyes with the source of the voices that roused her from unconsciousness, she quickly dragged herself across the floor, close enough so that she could have a better look at the two figures.

It was a woman with short, wavy blonde hair with a child tucked underneath her arm. The woman gave her a curt, reassuring smile. The child only stared. Whoever they were, they didn't seem to be of any threat. Not yet, at least.

"Do you," she grimaced as she propped herself against a crate, laying against it uncomfortably. "Do you know where we are?"

The woman shook her head, a sullen look glazing over her eyes. "No, sorry."

Elena sighed in frustration, staring at a wall.

In the silence, the sound of something whirring beyond the walls of the room filled her ears. It was more than just white noise. Startled, she sat a little straighter.

"Are we in a -"

"Some sort of aircraft. I've never seen anything like it but, we're definitely airborne."

"I'm  _telling_  you, it's a UFO" the girl said insistently, tugging on the woman's sleeve.

"Madison.."

Crossing her arms, Madison leaned against a crate with a thud.

"Sure looks like one." she mumbled.

Confused, Elena leaned forward. "What does she mean..?"

"I'll be honest, I don't know what this is. It's unlike anything I've seen but the crew definitely seem human...appearance-wise." she said with the slightest acerbic tone.

If the people that had assaulted Elena were connected to this - and they definitely were, she had concluded - she couldn't argue with that.

"You with the military?"

The woman let out a tired laugh, shaking her head. "No, far from it. I'm a paleobiologist."

Elena's eyes narrowed slightly before dawning on a realization.

"You're with Monarch." she mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Monarch. You work for them, right?"

"....I do. How did you -"

"I was with them." her gaze wandered to the floor. " _Long_  time ago but.." Suddenly, she snapped herself back into focus. "What do you think they want?"

"I have an idea but," she shrugged. "I don't know."

Elena released a tired sigh, the back of her head thudding against the crate as she leaned back. The woman said nothing, only staring with a twinge of sympathy. Working with Monarch wasn't for everyone, she knew that better than most.

"I'm Emma," she said, squeezing the girl's shoulder. "This is my daughter, Madison."

Elena looked at them, mouth quickly twitching to the side in a brief smile. Madison did the same.

"Elena."

Silence filled the room once again, and as Madison stared at the stranger sitting across the room, she couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something familiar about her.

Suddenly, the sound of buttons being pressed followed by the room's door sliding open broke the silence. Madison tensed, huddling closer to her mother. Defensively, Elena turned around crouching in vain behind one of the crates. The same pair that had assaulted her in her home walked into the room with the same eerily calm demeanor as before.

The tall woman's eyes scanned the room before landing on Elena's partially hidden form, eyes glaring from beyond the crate. With a smile that didn't reach her eyes, she walked closer, looking down at the trio with an unreadable expression.

"The Controller would like to see you."

With little resistance, the tall woman led the trio down a series of windowless halls. The further Elena was taken into the craft, the less she recognized it as anything familiar. If they were with the military, it was definitely nothing she had ever seen before. The halls seemed to twist and curve in an almost circular pattern. But what unnerved her the most was how  _sterile_  everything looked, like a doctor's office dialed up to 100. It was as cold and expressionless as the woman guiding them further into the labyrinth. Maybe there was some credence to that girl's comment after all.

Soon enough they neared a large room. Elena tried to subdue her surprise as she walked in to find herself face to face with a window about half as large as the room itself. Madison was not so subtle, her mouth hanging slightly agape as she tried her best to take in every inch of her surroundings. She couldn't blame her. Outside were nothing but bright orange and pink clouds brushing past them like balls of cotton. And beneath them was a rapidly approaching sunset. It was a welcome relief from the ship's empty halls.

That relief didn't last, not when a man who had previously been standing across the room staring out the window turned around. Off to the side were about 5 other people, standing as straight as a board staring at nothing in particular. They too wore the same all-black uniform as the tall woman.

"The assets, as you requested." she said in an almost robotic manner.

As she turned to leave, spinning on her heels in one swift motion, she shot a gaze down at Elena. It held something unreadable, not quite malicious but not quite benevolent. Elena's face scrunched into a slight frown. Odd.

"My Regulator." the man said almost too calmly, arms folded behind his back as he stepped closer to the trio. "She's tough, that one. My apologies if she brought any harm to you all."

The three remained silent, too on edge to even think about playing along with his friendly facade. He outstretched his arms like one would when expecting a hug. Without thinking, Elena stepped forward, standing between this "Controller" and the two women behind her. He forced a chuckle.

"Oh, come now, you won't be harmed here. In fact this is the safest place you could possibly be."

"Yeah, well we don't exactly feel safe."

His jaw set, expression changing from open and welcoming to distant and irritated in the span of a second. "You must be Elena."

Stepping just a little too close for her comfort, he stared down at her, his eyes boring deep into her own. They were cold, distant, like that of a shark's. And Elena felt like she was just another fish caught in its teeth. She glared back at him, teeth grinding just behind her lips.

"So  _bold_. And for people you've just barely met." he spoke, tone unchanging as he walked past her and toward Emma. "Understandably so..they are your species after all."

Elena raised an eyebrow. What was this guy on?

"Evolution built you to care for them," he spoke softly, almost as though he was talking to himself.

"But no matter. That won't be a problem for us." he said, sharply turning back around, hands folded behind his back once more. "In fact, it's an advantage - our greatest asset."

Though Elena couldn't see for herself, the reflection that bounced off of the wide window showed his face, upon which was a smile - wide and distorted like a long, thin gash cutting across his head. "With you three, we can do everything we've so eagerly waited for."

Madison's face scrunched up in thought. Somehow, in some impossible way, she had a feeling she knew what the strange man was talking about. And somewhere buried deep in the back of her mind, Elena did too. Much to her relief, a voice sounded from behind her, promptly interrupting whatever monologue she was sure she'd be forced to endure.

"Sir," a man said as he entered the room. The Controller turned around, briefly looking irritated at the intrusion before calming down in less than a second. He nodded.

"We've retrieved the passcodes for the next outpost."

He gave the man a tight-lipped smile. "Let's go, then." His eyes wandered to the three women. "I believe we've gotten everything we need here."

Before Elena could respond, the Controller gestured to the man behind them. He stepped forward.

"I'm sure you three have many questions but I can assure you, they will all be answered with time." Raising his voice just slightly, he called out into the hallway. "Regulator, please make sure our esteemed guests are treated with utmost care."

At that, the woman swiftly escorted them out, all but shoving them into the hall and back down the long, twisting corridors of the ship. This walk had been much shorter than the last, but even then Elena's legs burned. Finally, they reached a room that seemed isolated from the rest. As the Regulator tapped symbols on what looked like a keypad, the door slid open with a light hiss. Inside were solely two sets of bunk beds on either side of the room.

Without persuasion, Emma hurried into the room, pushing Madison in before her. As Elena walked behind them, the Regulator leaned down, stopping her in her tracks. With the lightest of whispers, she spoke into her ear.

"Looks like you're not in Kansas anymore."

Elena grimaced, glowering at the woman. Too quick for her mother to stop her, Madison turned around, sticking her tongue out as the Regulator closed the door behind them with the faintest of smiles.

_____

Jodie was a bundle of nerves.

She hadn't stopped biting her nails since they left Washington, and since boarding the Osprey it had only gotten worse. Although her wife had reassured her that she was unharmed save for a bad case of shock, her mind couldn't quiet itself.

People had died.  _Friends_  had died.

There were so many questions to still be answered that it was giving her a migraine. As she held her head in her hands, she felt the feather-light touch of a hand on her shoulder. It was Vivienne, with the same warm and reassuring smile she always had when times were tough. But even then, there was a solemn curtain that hung just above her expression.

"We're approaching our destination in abooout 5 minutes." the pilot trailed off as she slowly descended upon a grassy field. "Get ready."

Jodie turned to Vivienne. "You sure he'll..you know..?"

She shook her head, eyes glancing to the floor as she sighed. "Wish I could say for certain. Ever since he went off the grid, we haven't been in contact. It could go either way."

"Alright, we're about to land."

Tugging the edge of her blazer, she sat up, helping Vivienne in the process as the Osprey shook with the landing. "Guess we'll find out."

As the four stepped out into the brisk Colorado air, Jodie could see a man standing amidst the tall grass, holding what looked like a professional camera in one hand. He didn't exactly look welcoming. The man advanced towards them, brows furrowing with every step.

"Not. Here." he hissed as he walked past Serizawa.

Oh, great.

"Mark, this is important, just li -"

Waving him off, he continued walking away toward a truck parked in the distance. Jodie's jaw tightened. From the failed hearing with the senators to the attack in China, she felt her patience threshold rapidly cracking under the stress.

"Hey, asshole!" she called, feeling a nudge on her arm followed by a quiet but stern ' _Jodie_ ' from Vivienne. He stopped, slowly turning around. "Not sure if you've heard, but there's been an incident. It involves your daughter." she said in a biting tone.

At that, Mark Russell fully faced them, his face turning a ghostly pale.

After a brief drive down a dirt road in a run-down chevy, he led them to an isolated cabin sitting right beside a lake. It was nice and quiet, with nothing but the sound of various birdsongs and tree branches shaking in the wind filling the gaps in silence. As she stepped onto the patio, she couldn't help but remember all those times she and Gill had talked about getting a cabin in the woods and living out the rest of their days doing nothing but hunting for cryptids and hosting their podcast. At least they had somehow gotten 1/3 of that plan down.

As Mark unlocked the door to the cabin, he ushered them all in. Vivienne had already pulled out a tablet, scrolling for a second before pulling up Outpost 61's security cam footage. Jodie shivered. She had seen it at least a dozen times on the way over here. It was chilling, how those people gunned down those Monarch scientists as if they were nothing but mannequins. As Vivienne played it for Mark, he watched with the same horrified expression. His hands curled into fists.

"The feed cuts out there." Vivienne said softly, wringing her hands. Mark was speechless, glazed eyes looking past her shoulder at something Jodie couldn't quite make out. "The survivors haven't been able to give us much more than what the footage shows, only that Emma and Madison were the only ones taken."

"I'm sorry, Mark." Serizawa said from the back of the room.

"I should've been there for them..." he whispered hoarsely. "Who are they?" If a stare could kill, the man in black on the tablet screen would've been long dead.

"We don't know yet," Jodie spoke. "But we think they were after this." Switching to a previous frame, she zoomed in on an image of Emma kneeling before a strange bulky-looking device. Mark's eyes widened with anger.

"You didn't.."

"That's the ORCA, isn't it?" Coleman said, a mix of awe and fear peppering his expression.

"Looks like it. Why else would they need Emma?" Jodie leaned forward, crossing her arms as she squinted at the grainy footage.

Turning to Mark, a stream of words spilled from Coleman's mouth "She believed that if we could somehow replicate the bio-sonar the titans use to communicate -"

"I know what the hell it is, I helped build the prototype!" Mark snapped. Doing a double-take between the four figures, he looked back to Graham. "Who are they again?"

Putting on his signature 'friendly' face, Coleman outstretched a hand. "Uh, Sam Coleman. I'm Monarch's head of technology, I joined shortly after you left."

Mark only looked down at his hand, his face looking more tired and done by the second. Coleman's hand quickly lowered itself before gesturing to Jodie.

"A-And this is my assistant."

She didn't bother uncrossing her arms.

"Jodie Lennox. Big fan of your wife..s work - and yours too, I mean -"

Not missing a beat, Mark seemed to ignore her completely. Jodie raised a brow. "Emma and I destroyed the prototype."

"And she decided to rebuild it." Vivienne chimed in.  "After..After San Francisco, she went back to Boston and spent years developing it. She thought it could help -"

"Help what, play god?!"

"N-No, help prevent another attack!"

Jodie shot a glance at Serizawa, who looked just as bewildered at the man's attitude.

"The ORCA was a grad school science project, it was meant to keep whales away from the shoreline not so you could talk to your little creatures out there!" Mark's voice only increased in intensity. The four couldn't bring themselves to dispute him.

While he had a point, Jodie couldn't help but feel as frustrated as she was back in that room filled with uncaring senators. She looked directly at Mark.

"Listen to me, they'll think it's one of them. You use the wrong frequency on any one of 'em and you're gonna be responsible for a thousand San Franciscos."

"No,  _you_  listen. The ORCA that was stolen is  _not_  the same one you worked on years ago, you don't even know what we've been able to accomplish since then!" Jodie cut herself off before she escalated the situation even more than it already had.

"Which is why we need to get it back." Serizawa said, the seriousness of his tone feeling like a weight on everyone's shoulders.

"And why are you telling me all this?"

"Emma always said no one knew the ORCA better than you."

"It shouldn't even exist." he hissed, walking away to stare out a window. Out of the corner of Jodie's eye she could see that his hands were shaking.

Exasperation evident in his tone, Coleman spoke up. "That may be, Mark but it's fallen into the wrong hands. And right now the ORCA is the only thing keeping Emma and Madison alive. Don't you want to help get them back?"

Not hearing anything but the man's silence, Vivienne stepped forward.

"Mark, we know you're hurting. But if we find the ORCA, we'll find your family." she paused, eyes searching for the slightest hint of a response. "I promise."

Lips curling with impatience, Jodie spoke "So are you coming or not?"

Slowly, Mark turned around.

"I don't really have a choice."


	5. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent,  
> and bound him for a thousand years,  
> so that he could not deceive the nations  
> until the thousand years were complete

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok ik i said id update every monday but i ended up finishing this chapter way ahead of schedule so why not post it early; warning: this is a long one

They had been airborne for a few hours now.

No one in the Osprey had uttered a word since leaving Mark's cabin, there was no need to. Aside from dealing with the craft's awful turbulence, the air was heavy with a melting pot of emotions. Serizawa was up front, looking out the window with a serious expression (not his usual one, Jodie noted, this one looked different - sullen) and flipping the old pocket watch he carried everywhere open and closed. Graham, of course, was right by his side, checking her phone so often it was borderline neurotic. Poor Sam was in the back with Mark, trying to keep his voice down as he answered call after call from what sounded like Monarch and Government officials alike. She didn't envy him.

Last she checked, word hadn't broken outside of close circles. And she doubted it would reach mainstream news anytime soon. Her journalistic mind wanted to be the first to break the story, but she knew the type of panic that came with anything involving Monarch nowadays - let alone titans. And that wasn't even covering how they would give word of the incident to each of their families (if they even had any). It was a mess. So instead she settled back, letting Sam take the reigns for the time being.

As they moved further east, Colorado's rolling mountains gave way to Kansas' checkered, grassy plains. By the time night came, they had already reached the wetter, greener country of the south. Eventually, in the earliest hours of the morning when the moon was still visible despite the warm glow of the sun breaching the horizon, they were already cruising over a seemingly endless body of water. On occasion they would pass over small, mist-shrouded islands scattered throughout like the scutes of a certain lizard.

Until then, Jodie had been dosing on and off throughout the trip, but each time she would be startled awake by images of Gill hiding somewhere in the outpost. She couldn't begin to imagine how scared she must've been to see her coworkers gunned down so mercilessly. She knew that she was one of the lucky ones, reassuring herself that she was now sitting safely in the heart of Monarch's HQ. But that couldn't stop her from replaying the security footage over and over again in her mind.

Why them? She could understand taking Emma, as she was the only one there that knew the ORCA like the back of her hand. It was her brainchild, after all. But the kid?

She wasn't as familiar with her as Gill was, but she knew Madison had guts. She had to, if she wanted to stay with Emma rather than Mark. As she mentally scanned through the footage once more, she recalled an..interesting segment. No one else had commented on it thus far, but something about it bothered her. She couldn't tell for sure, but there was something off about Emma's ORCA, it was as though it  _hadn't_  worked. At least, not until Madison appeared out of nowhere and stood between her mother and a certain end at the hand of a giant bug. If anything, it was simply a weird coincidence and the "terrorists", as they had been referred to, took her as a form of motivation. A sharp chill ran down her spine at the thought.

Snapping her out of her thought spiral, Graham walked past her and sat beside Mark.

"How are you holding up?" she asked softly.

Of course, he didn't respond.  _Typical_ , Jodie thought, rolling her eyes.

"You could yell at us more if it'll make you feel any better." she said with a lighthearted chuckle.

"I'd rather you not." Jodie muttered under her breath.

Though she couldn't quite see it, Mark smiled at the exchange.

"Don't get me wrong, it's good to see you two." he said. "I know you and Serizawa were good friends of Emma's after..y'know."

Graham paused for a moment. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

Feigning sleep, Jodie listened. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but after years of investigative journalism it became a habit hard to break.

"About three years ago. After San Francisco, we went back home to Boston...tried to put the pieces back together. Emma dealt with it by doubling down on saving the world, and I...." there was a long pause. "I started drinking..I can't tell you how much I hated myself letting Maddie see me that way."

Vivienne didn't respond. Yikes.

Lucky for them, Coleman's voice sounded from the back of the Osprey.

"Uh, you mind if we cut in here? It's just..you're going to want to see this." Jodie was roused from her pretend sleep.

Sitting across from him, he handed Mark a tablet. She couldn't make out exactly what it showed from looking over Vivienne's shoulder, but she could tell it contained blueprints. 3D models and what looked like sound frequencies. Emma's research.

"Emma combined the bioacoustics of different titans to create the ORCA's signal. A sort of baseline frequency that all the creatures respond to - attracting them, repelling them, and even at times calming them down. It's pretty remarkable, actually." Coleman couldn't suppress the impressed smile from growing on his face.

"The problem is that we don't know which titans she combined. But if you can identify those frequencies, we'll be able to track the ORCA." Graham said. "And find Emma and Madison."

Mark continued swiping through the data, eyes scanning x-ray upon x-ray of various titans. No two of them looked alike, some had tough exoskeletons like giant insects while others were more mammalian. A few even shared similarities with Godzilla.

"Scylla, Behemoth, Kong..." Jodie commented. "Even the G-man himself. And those are just the few we've been able to confirm."

"Jesus," he said. "How many of these things are there?"

"Seventeen." Serizawa responded. "And counting, after Gojira."

" _Seventeen_?"

"Now, now, don't throw yourself into a fit." Leaving her seat with an irritated sigh, Jodie inched closer to the group huddled around the tablet. Clearing her throat, she motioned for it. Mark handed it to her.

Pulling up a map of the world, various locations were marked in a seemingly random pattern. After all these years, the map of titans found and contained had become so normal to her. To Mark, not so much.

"Most of them were discovered in deep hibernation," she said as she watched him scan through each outpost, disbelief steadily growing on his face. "While others we've contained in sites around the globe."

"Cambodia, Mexico, Skull Island. We even found one in Wyoming. They're everywhere." Graham chimed in.

"Why don't you kill them?" he asked.

Jodie bristled. Before she could even think of opening her mouth, Serizawa spoke up.

"The government wants to. But we believe that some are benevolent."

"Don't kid yourself." Mark snapped.

Serizawa sighed, looking down at the floor. Jodie limply threw her hands into the air.

"Look, man, I know you had a bad run-in with the big guy but have you seen them They can't help it!" Jodie retorted.

"Yeah? Then maybe something that can level a city if it so much as sneezes shouldn't be kept in a cozy little containment center while everyone else suffers the consequences."

"That still gives us  _no_  right to decide whether they live or -"

Suddenly, something in the Osprey began beeping.

"Uh,  _hey_  look at that. We're here." Coleman said, nervousness potent in his voice.

Vexed, Mark got up, walking toward the cockpit. Jodie rolled her shoulders. It was going to be a long day.

Looking out the window, Jodie spied the oil platform that jutted out of the sea, shrouded in mist like a lonely spire from a fairy tale. As they got closer, the Osprey began to dip closer to the rig's landing pad.

"Castle Bravo, this is Raptor 1 on direct approach." the pilot spoke into the mic in her helmet.

With that, the landing pad opened, revealing an empty shaft that went down, much deeper than what the rig above suggested. As they descended, they passed by floor after floor, many of which were bustling with people going about their regular workday. Or about as regular a workday could get at Monarch's HQ.

"This is new." Mark whispered.

"Yeah," Coleman said, the pride in his voice unmistakable. "We call it Castle Bravo, our new flagship facility. Built to track and study Godzilla on his own turf."

To Jodie, it had become so much more. It was home.

"I thought it was missing." Mark said, all but gritting his teeth at the thought of the titan still being alive and well.

She bit the inside of her cheek. This guy's deep-running hatred for the giant amphibian was already getting on her nerves.

"Well, only if you don't know where to look." Coleman replied.

That was easier said than done. After San Francisco, Godzilla had taken a pretty bad beating at the hands of yet another MUTO just a few months later - the signature glowing spines that adorned his back had been completely shattered. After crawling back to his home in the ocean, there hadn't been a public sighting of him since.

Slowing to a hover, the Osprey landed. The bay was impressively large for being a little under a mile below sea level.

"This is our stop." Coleman said.

As the group filed out of the Osprey, a line of men and women donning camouflage uniforms waited on the deck. Their leader, a woman with a clean-shaven head and a no-nonsense air, was unmistakable.

"Dr. Russell, this is Colonel Foster. She's the head of G-Team." Coleman said.

"A pleasure." she offered her hand. This time, Mark shook it.

"I take it you're not part of the scientific mission here." he remarked.

"Damn right." a man with a dark, close-cropped beard called from the back.

Colonel Foster grinned. "Chief Officer Barnes," nodding to the rest of the group she continued. "And this is Sergeant Hendricks, Staff Sergeant Martinez, and First Lieutenant Griffin."

Mark gave a quick wave.

"If you'll excuse me, Dr. Graham and I have some catching up to do with Colonel Foster." Serizawa said, coming up from behind Mark. Looking over his shoulder at Coleman, he continued. "Sam, why don't you give Dr. Russell a tour, help him get adjusted."

Coleman cringed. "Sorry, Doc I uh," he placed his hand over his phone's speaker. "Senate's not really taking our sudden leave so well. They're starting to get a little antsy."

"It's alright, I can -"

"Oh, don't worry, Jodie could probably show you around." he said without a hint of sarcasm before quickly returning to his call.

Jodie groaned to herself, putting on her most convincing friendly face as she turned towards Mark. He didn't seem too happy about it either.

_____

The first stop of the tour was the submarine bay.

It was bigger than one would've expected, holding around seven subs, at least a dozen smaller submersibles, and with space for more.

Although Castle Bravo was technically a research facility, it also acted as a fortress, fitted with large reinforced glass windows along with raised metal sleeves that definitely contained weapons of some kind. It had to, when it studied the sort of creatures that would call for that level of protection. Thankfully, Jodie thought, they hadn't needed to use those in years.

"Looks like you could stage a war from here." Marked noted.

"Don't get too excited, most of these are just research vessels." she walked ahead of him, not bothering to pay attention to whether he was following her or not. "Remember, we're still looking for titans. For all we know there could be dozens more out there."

"That's just great." he grumbled.

"If you're so hellbent on seeing them all as mindless monsters, wouldn't  _you_  want to be better prepared?"

"Give me a break, Monarch's been chasing these things since the 40s. As far as I can tell, whatever they learned prepared us for jack shit."

Jodie's lips curled inward with irritation. "Y'know, for someone that studies a keystone species for a living I would expect you to know better."

"Those  _monsters_  hardly count as a keystone species, they're walking natural disasters." he said, voice as angry and venomous as a snake.

".....That's exactly the kind of mindset Emma was trying to change."

Mark recoiled. "She was messing with something she shouldn't have." he paused, eyes scrunching closed for a moment. "Now look where it got her."

 _No wonder she divorced your ass_ , Jodie thought. As much as she wanted to spit it in his face, it was a low blow, even for her. Instead, she kept quiet, continuing to march forward until they reached level two of the facility. Jodie perked up just slightly when they entered the massive room, hearing the softest of gasps from Mark.

"What the hell is that?" he whispered to himself, awe and horror melding together in his tone.

Before them sat a giant reptilian creature. It vaguely resembled Godzilla, in the sense that it too possessed jagged spines jutting out from its back. The similarities stopped there, as this one's face was flatter, almost like a marine iguana. It even had similar, rounded jowels. Not to mention that it was much, much smaller, roughly the size of a blue whale. Jodie was no zoologist but she could've guessed that whatever species this belonged to, it was likely a juvenile.

It was also undeniably dead.

A vast majority of its body was obscured by scaffolding and heavy lifting machinery, but what could be seen was pretty grisly. Whatever this thing ran into had it out for them.

"That's Margygr, poor girl." she said, eyes filled with sympathy. "Found her washed up in the Arctic a few weeks ago."

Mark's eyes wandered to the rest of the room, finding that - much to his dismay - Margygr wasn't the only titan on the floor. As Jodie led him through, they passed by an assortment of titan parts - bones, semi-intact limbs, an organ or two - less than a handful were completely whole. Nearing the other side of the room, he found one that he recognized. The decapitated head of the female MUTO. Out of the corner of her eye, Jodie saw him grimace.

"You're dissecting them?" he said, disgusted.

"Well, yeah. And that's just the start of what they do down here." she said, unfazed by the scene around her. "Don't ask me about the dirty details, though. This isn't my division. The most I know is that the general mission is to understand them - how their ecosystem works, sequencing their DNA, etcetera."

"Their DNA?" he froze. "What could you possibly need with something like -"

" _Ugh_ , could you chill out? This isn't Jurassic Park."

" _Chill out_? You're just gonna drop a bomb like that and then tell me to  _chill out_?"

".....Are you done?"

After opening and closing his mouth, Mark said nothing.

"What I'm  _trying_  to say is that things have changed since you left. We've gathered more information on them in the past five years than in the last decade and since Godzilla showed up again, we've gotten so much closer to understanding them. Connecting with -"

"Do you even hear yourself? This isn't some child's fantasy, we're talking about genocides waiting to happen."

"Mark, they're  _animals_. Just like any other thing that breathes on this goddamn rock!"

"Just - I don't care about this." He waved her off, turning to walk away but realizing he had nowhere to walk away to. "I just want my daughter back. And once that's done I'm  _done_. I'm washing my hands of - of all this. Again. Forever."

Frustrated, Jodie pulled her phone from her pocket. She couldn't deal with him, of all things. She was just about to scroll through her numerous unread messages before seeing the time at the top of the screen.

"Fuck." she muttered under her breath.

"What is it now?"

"The meeting. We've got ten minutes until it starts."

"Meeting?"

"Must've forgotten to tell you." she said nonchalantly. "Guess the tour's over."

_____

The walk to the command center was a quiet one, heavy with tension and just a hint of anxiety.

That whole time Jodie was mentally punching Sam for making her waste precious time with  _this_  has-been instead of her own wife. Thankfully, that walk had also been short, and as they entered the room, she made sure to sit as far away from him as possible. Pulling up a chair between Lieutenant Griffin and Dr. Stanton, she waited as more people filed in one after the other. Soon enough, Vivienne walked into the room, standing in front of a large screen. Immediately, all chatter died down.

"As you know," she began. "At approximately 0700 hours, our containment site in China's Yunnan rainforest was raided."

The screen behind her displayed a waterfall, and wriggling just behind its curtain was a massive larva. The same one from the security footage from before. Jodie squinted. The scale of the scene would've fooled her had it not been for the two helicopters shining floodlights down on the creature. What was it doing? It didn't seem to be as distressed as before.

"The specimen - code-named Mothra - escaped, only to cocoon itself under a nearby waterfall, while Dr. Russell and her daughter Madison were taken hostage."

As Jodie peered closer, she saw dozens of iridescent threads spouting out of the larva's mandibles. The silk casing that had already begun to form had to be at least two stories tall.

Then, Emma's file photo and personal data flashed across the screen, quickly followed by a screenshot from the Yunnan footage. It was grainy, and although it was enhanced as much as it could be it hardly showed any detail save for the basic outline of a man's face - an older man, all gray hair and sharp features. A cold, empty stare. Despite the anger Jodie felt looking at the man responsible for all this, she couldn't stop the wave of goosebumps from forming along her arms.

"This is the man responsible," Vivienne wrung her hands. She always seemed to do that when she was nervous. "We haven't been able to find much information on him save for assumed previous encounters, but other than that, it's as if he never existed."

"What we  _do_  know is that he's had a penchant for this sort of thing." she went on as the screen displayed multiple screenshots of the man, each from different locations spanning years. This briefing couldn't get any more discouraging. "At the current moment we've assumed he's part of a wave of violent ecoterrorist activity that's steadily been on the rise in recent years. He could possibly be the man behind it all."

"Ecoterrorists?" Mark asked incredulously.

"Someone's spent too much time off the grid." Jodie muttered to herself.

"Wouldn't be surprised. Why else would they go after one of our outposts?" Stanton chimed in.

"What the hell's someone gonna do with a giant worm?" Martinez asked, seemingly genuine.

"You kidding? What  _can't_  you do with it?" he went on, leaning forward. "Pharmaceuticals, bioweapons, food - hell, there isn't a country or company on the planet that doesn't wanna get its hands on one of these suckers."

Looking up at the screen that now showed an x-ray of the pupa, Stanton's eyes narrowed. "And remember, this one's just a larva. A  _baby_. After it cocoons? Something else is gonna crawl out. Something bigger.  _Meaner_  -"

"We don't know that, Rick." a woman with short, black hair cut in bangs interrupted.

Dr. Chen, the same scientist that Gill followed around like a lovestruck high schooler for the first year after their recruitment. Jodie trusted her.

"Oh, yeah?" Stanton raised a mug full of lukewarm coffee to his mouth. "Just wait for it, Chen."

She turned away, shaking her head with an exasperated grin on her face. Jodie couldn't quite put her finger on it, but Chen always seemed to know something everyone else didn't.  Maybe that was why she liked her so much.

"Our intel indicates our perpetrator wants to capture the specimen alive, which means he and his mercs won't be far behind." Colonel Foster said, stepping forward. "At 0500, we'll ship out to launch a joint operation -"

"I wouldn't bother." Mark said, crossing his arms.

That got everyone's attention. Jodie could feel Coleman's anxiety shoot through the roof after the first syllable left the man's mouth. As quickly as he had spoken, the room became silent as all eyes turned on him.

"Excuse me?" Foster finally asked.

"Sounds like a duck hunt to me."

"U-Uh, Mark? Why don't we let Colonel Foster fini -"

"A decoy," he continued, this time standing up from his seat. "A diversion. Look, they already got Emma and the ORCA. Why would they want just this one when they've got the keys to your entire kingdom of horrors back here?" he pointed to the map of Monarch outposts in the back of the room.

Foster remained silent, hands curling and uncurling.

"I think they want you to go after this Mothra so they can go after a real prize. Something bigger."

"Right.." Foster said, trying desperately to hold onto her composure.

"Mark," Serizawa said. "This is not the first specimen they've captured, they know what they're doing -"

"That's not just a specimen, I've got an ex-wife and a daughter out there. In case you forgot."

"No, no one's forgotten that, Mark," Coleman said. "But, uh, to remind you, you were brought on here to help track the ORCA and to advise -"

"I  _advise_  you to kill these things," he snapped. "All of them!" Pointing at the screen that now depicted archival footage of Godzilla, he grimaced, brows closely knitting together. "Especially that one."

Serizawa leaned back into his chair. He was looking more troubled by the second. Jodie ran her hands down her face. At least now she didn't have to deal with his bullshit alone.

"You wanna make sure these things don't fall into the wrong hands? You kill them, and the ORCA is useless."

"Emma wouldn't have wanted that," Chen said firmly. "Even to save her life."

"Well it wouldn't be the first time she put all of this before herself." he retorted. "Or her family, would it?"

With that, he stormed off. Jodie practically breathed a sigh of relief.

"Glad  _that's_  over." Jodie said, running a hand through her hair.

"Damn..dude really hates titans." Barnes remarked.

"Yeah, well, you would too if you were him." Coleman replied.

_____

There wasn't much to see outside the small, circular window of the "dorm" save for the faint glint of the moon bouncing off of what looked like an infinite expanse of ice. But to Madison, it was better than looking around the equally cold cage around her.

None of those strange people had bothered them in the hours they had spent in the air. Save for once, a few hours ago when that same woman from before had come offering them all a bland substitute for food. It only reminded Madison that she hadn't eaten anything for almost a day. Looking at it, remembering what had happened, she didn't feel hungry at all.

She didn't think she'd ever forget the scene she had been subjected to in China - the smell of blood, the looks of surprise or fear or pain captured forever on the faces of people she knew. That's what made it all worse, she thought. She had practically grown up around these people. Dr. Tanis would always help her with her homeschooling when her mother was too busy. Tim would make it a point to visit their living compound every now and then for a cup of coffee before work started. And of course, there was Gill. The two of them had become a notorious pair after pulling a prank on one of the archaeologists early into their deployment at the outpost. And one prank soon became ten.

At least she didn't see her among the carnage. Maybe, she reassured herself, she had managed to get out in time. Her mother had told her not to think about it, how in order to get through this they had to keep a level head. That was easier said than done. If anything she wanted to scream. She wanted to scream and cry and beat her hands against the walls until they collapsed or her knuckles became bloody. Instead, she sat on the uncomfortably stiff cot, closing her eyes as she tried to file all those images of death away to the farthest reaches of her mind. Instead, she thought of Mothra. The feeling of connection that she couldn't explain. How important it seemed, despite not knowing how or why it was important in the first place. Maybe if these guys hadn't interrupted them, she thought, she might've figured it out.

She wondered if the pupa had remained unharmed, as the mercs that took them didn't seem all that interested in her. She hoped she was okay.

Suddenly, there was a shift in their course, it felt like they were descending.

Looking over at her mom and the other woman, they seemed to notice it too. Although her mother didn't like showing it, Madison could tell she was nervous. The woman - Elena - she seemed on edge. She had only known her for a few hours, and spoken to her much less, but there was something so startlingly familiar about her. It was like that feeling you got when you stared into a mirror so long that you couldn't recognize your reflection as your own. But she wasn't scared of her, despite the defensive and withdrawn air about her.

Seconds after the sudden descent, the door opened.

"Put these on, you'll need them."

The woman that other guy had called "The Regulator" barged into the room, not caring at all for their personal space. In her arms were three thick parka-looking coats.

"Where are we?" Elena asked.

"You'll see. Follow me."

As the craft slowed to a stop, Madison could hear the harsh wind buffet against the walls. Every now and then it would wobble in place from its sheer force. She struggled to keep up with their pace, falling just behind her mother while Elena walked ahead of them both. As she passed by a window, shrugging on the deceptively heavy coat, she could see a glimpse of the world outside. Under the light of a full moon was a desolate, icy landscape that stretched off as far her eyes could see in every direction except ahead. There, ice and stone joined with a metal encampment. A Monarch outpost, she realized. But not just any outpost. It had to be the Antarctic base.

Under different circumstances she would've been excited. She often overheard her mother talking with Dr. Graham about this place - the landscape, the surprising amount of life, the silence. And, of course, the sleeping giant that lay inside.

She shivered, and not because of the cold atmosphere that seeped through the walls of the craft. She had never actually seen the creature up close save for photos that she had sneaked glances at. Her mother had a high security clearance, but Madison didn't.

"Outpost 32," she overheard a man, presumably one of the pilots, say into a radio as they drew closer to the front (center?) of the craft. "This is Raptor 5 on approach with reinforcements and supplies requesting permission to land. Serizawa has all sites on high alert so transmitting emergency codes now."

After a moment of silence, the person on the other end responded. "Codes are good. Nice to have you back."

Madison's brows creased together.

They were  _definitely_  not in an Osprey. The base would notice that something was wrong right off the bat if they approached in whatever they were in right now. Still, they continued walking until they were herded into what looked like an elevator. After a quick and silent trip down, they exited, now in an area that looked like a hangar. It was bustling with a good amount of people, and in the center of the room was an Osprey.  _Of course_ , Madison thought.  _Why wouldn't they have managed to steal one._

As the Regulator corralled them into the Osprey, Madison could see the strange man - the Controller - waiting for them inside. Great.

He said nothing as its engines whirred to life, only staring outside the front window in the same position he had when they first met. As they sat down, Madison could feel her mother's hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly as the mercenaries took up their weapons. She tried her best not to flinch at the sound.

It frightened her how casual it all was. Like it was just another day at the office for these people. The Osprey hovered in the air for a moment, the bottom of the hangar opening up beneath them. Looking out the window, Madison found that they were actually far from the base, somehow standing still in midair in a ship that made no sound. It was only a little unnerving. Shortly afterward they began their descent, approaching the base after five minutes or so. To her, it felt like forever. As the Osprey neared the base, Madison could see Monarch officials coming out to greet them, illuminated by the floodlights.

 _Go back!_ , she wanted to scream, hoping her thoughts would somehow reach them.

When they finally touched down, she began feeling just slightly nauseous as the Controller and his men disembarked.

For a moment, there was a suffocating silence, the wind being the only sound filling her ears. Then the gunfire started. Without meaning to she huddled closer to her mother, and even out of the corner of her eye she saw Elena stiffen.

"I'm scared." Madison whispered.

"I know," her mother said, pulling her closer. "Me too."

At that second, Madison looked up, eyes connecting with Elena's for just a brief moment. In her eyes she had seen something akin to pity, but underneath that was something else. It wasn't quite fear, but it was something like it. In the next second, the gunfire stopped, and with it the Controller stepped back into the Osprey.

"Let's go."

The walk to the outpost was a nightmare. Besides the harsh wind and biting snow coming at them near horizontally, there were at least a dozen more bodies lying frozen on the ice. On either side of her was her mother and Elena, and despite their attempts at shielding her from the grisly view, she just felt even sicker than before.

"Keep your eyes straight ahead," she heard a voice whisper into her ear. It was Elena. "Take deep breaths."

Madison nodded.

Inside, the mercenaries crowded them into an elevator and began yet another descent. Standing just beside Elena, facing in her direction, was the Controller, wiping a drop of blood from his face. He must've felt her eyes on him, as his gaze suddenly turned to her, flashing the tiniest of smiles. If you could even call it that. He smiled as though he had just learned how to move his face in such a way. It was strange and terrible, and she did her best to stare straight through him. Finding that she couldn't quite manage that, she scratched her eye with her middle finger and felt a little satisfaction when he seemed to understand her. At that, Elena stepped between them, staring at him so intensely that Madison almost felt a little scared for her.

Thankfully, the elevator doors opened, revealing a cavern of ice. Dozens of catwalks and research equipment surrounded the massive wall of ice that was at least hundreds of feet high. But that wasn't what caused everyone in the elevator to look up with rapt attention.

"Mother of God," Elena whispered to herself in horror.

"She had nothing to do with this." the Controller replied.

Madison could only stare at it in wonder and just a little dread. Within the wall of ice was a titan, all serpentine coils and gigantic claws. It looked like it could've been several titans tangled together, as she could make out at least two dragon-like heads. Whatever it was was also massive, far bigger than Mothra and possibly even bigger than Godzilla himself.

"Monster zero." she mumbled. That's what she had heard Dr. Graham and her mother call it.

The thought suddenly sent a jolt of worry through her. Was Graham still stationed here? Had those mercenaries killed her too? She hoped not, that would've been too much. After the divorce, it had been somewhat of a relief to have her around. She was like an Aunt, though she didn't really know what it was like to have family outside of her parents. Or her brother.

She tried not to think about it.

Instead she thought about the tunnel she was being led through. It had been carved through the ice and insulated with something that looked a bit like a hamster tube. It was warmer, but she still felt goosebumps forming up and down her arms. As they worked their way up, past what was once people's workspaces, they reached the heart of the facility - the biolab.

From the catwalk, Madison could see one of the horned heads, while a vast majority of its body obscured by layers of ice. Her mother walked up to it, placing her hand against its frozen surface. Elena hung back. It almost looked like it was hard for her to breathe.

"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to keep her voice down.

Elena only nodded, trying to give her a reassuring smile but only further convincing her that no, she was not okay.

"Any survivors?" the Controller asked a man with short black hair.

"No," he replied. "They tried to launch an emergency beacon but we cut them off in time."

"Oh, they'll figure it out. Fire up the drills." Turning to her mother, his gaze focused on the ORCA in her hands. "Do you have everything you need?"

Her mother barely seemed to register what he said, but she nodded.

"Good," he said, that same dark smile growing on his face. "Let's get started."

As the men started up several drills mounted on robotic arms that hung from the ceiling, her mother began connecting the ORCA to the biolab's diagnostic equipment. She cocked her head in confusion when she saw one of the Controller's men walk next to her mother, connecting wires attached to what appeared to be two sleek headpieces into the ORCA. She didn't remember ever seeing those before. Standing closer to Elena while everyone was preoccupied, she looked up at her.

"The ORCA...it hadn't worked back in China. How's it gonna be any different now?"

Looking down, brows furrowed and lips pulled into a thin line, she exhaled. "It's not that it didn't work, it was missing something." she said, face hopelessly blank. "A human connection."

A connection.

Stepping closer to the wall of ice, she placed her hand against it just as her mother had.

Why were they bothering with the ORCA when this thing definitely seemed dead? It had been frozen for decades, possibly even longer than that. And how had a creature of this size been frozen like this in the first place? Other animals had been found in a similar state, but they were never like this. From what she could make out, Monster Zero had been standing in a very lifelike pose. It seemed impossible that the ice had accumulated on him over time. And how long ago had it happened? Antarctica wasn't always a frozen wasteland. Was it even possible that he wasn't dead at all? Stranger things had happened.

Madison got her answer an instant later, when she heard a series of beeps from one of the diagnostic machines behind her. On its screen it showed a flat line that slowly but surely spiked. The waves were brief, shallow, inconsistent - but they were there.

Monster Zero was alive.


	6. Communion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> below the thunders of the upper deep,  
> far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,  
> his ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so it looks like there's gonna be bi-weekly updates in the foreseeable future (a chapter on monday and a chapter on friday) !! once the plot started picking up ive been breezing through these chapters lmao  
> as always thank u guys for sticking w/ me!!

After the briefing, it took all of Jodie's self control not to sprint to the facility's living quarters.

Gill had been cleared to leave the infirmary shortly before their arrival, and she'd be damned if she didn't get to at least say hello before they left for wherever the ORCA's signal took them.

Finally arriving at their apartment (if you could even call it that, it was more of an abnormally large dorm than anything), she knocked. On the other side, through the thick steel door, she heard a feeble "Who is it?" Smiling, she placed a hand on its surface.

"Who else could it be?"

After a quick succession of feet pattering against the floor, the door slid open. It was Gill in her usual get-up - a plain tank tucked into palazzo pants. Her hair was messier than usual, and although she seemed happy to see her, there was something in her eyes that made her look like she was on the verge of crying. Jodie had never pulled her in for a hug so fast in her life.

Gill's hands wrapped around her, gripping her blazer as if she were an apparition that could disappear at any second. She drew in a shaky breath. Jodie stroked her hair, hands trailing down to cup her cheeks. Wordlessly, they entered the room.

There, Gill pulled away, rubbing the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes away with the palm of her hand. The two collapsed on the small sofa in the center of the room, sitting about as close to each other as they could.

"Sorry I couldn't be here sooner, I was -"

"You don't have to apologize for anything," she said with a sad smile. "I'm just glad you're here."

Leaning in for a kiss, Jodie happily obliged. Even beneath meters and meters of cold ocean water, she never felt warmer when she was with Gill.

Drawing herself back, there was a shift in her expression, something serious.

"What's wrong?"

The pause made Jodie's stomach drop. She opened her mouth, then quickly shut it. Jodie could practically see her mind trying to connect the right words to each other. She prodded her arm.

" _What's wrong._ "

"I'm...Dr. Ling and I are leaving for China."

" _Audrey_ -"

Gill shot her a look. Jodie only used her first name when she was  _really_  distraught, and she hadn't used it in a long time. Jodie sighed, hands pushing back the stray curls that fell in front of her forehead.

"When do you leave?"

"In about an hour or two...I'll be fine, really." she took Jodie's hands in hers, their eyes staring deeply into each other's. "What happened..I don't think I'll ever get over it. I mean, I'm  _scared_. But that larva's still there, and I can't say why or  _how_  I know but..it feels important. Like I need to be there."

For the first time that day, Jodie was speechless. Gill was always the more idealistic of the two, always following her heart rather her head. But if there was anything they had in common, it was their stubbornness. Once she made up her mind, there was no turning back. Jodie sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Just stay safe, okay?" she leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "And call me as soon as you get there."

Gill giggled. "Alright,  _mom_."

" _I mean it_ ," she said jokingly. "And give updates!" Jodie added, her laugh mixing with Gill's.

Out of nowhere, the room - no - the whole base shook. They tensed.

"All personnel report to battle stations," Colonel Foster's voice blared from the loudspeakers as an alarm rang throughout the facility. "Code red. This is not a drill. Code red, I repeat,  _code red_."

By the time the announcement was finished, Jodie and Gill were already out the door.

_____

When they reached the command center, all of Castle Bravo was on complete lockdown.

What used to be a breathtaking undersea view was now hidden behind thick, metal blast doors. Were those ecoterrorists attacking the base? Jodie prayed to god they weren't.

Walking into complete chaos, Jodie saw that everyone from the meeting was there - G-Team, Chen, Stanton. And Mark. Jodie and Gill headed to Dr. Chen's station.

"What's happening?" Jodie asked, trying not to sound frantic.

"Something's wrong," she replied moving from one monitor to the next. "He's never been this close before."

"Who's  _he_?" Mark demanded.

"Who do you think?" Chen snapped.

"He's taking out our observation drones." Graham said, pointing to a series of screens that were quickly showing nothing but static. In one, Jodie saw a sudden flurry of motion. Something large and moving faster than any sub passed by, and shortly after the screen cut to static. Shit. It was  _him_.

Mark wasn't going to be too happy about this.

"Trajectory?" Serizawa said.

"Straight at us," Stanton informed him as he sat at his desk. "Twelve hundred meters and closing."

"G-Team!" Foster called. "Barnes, Martinez, Hendricks - I want you on those CROWS  _now_!"

"You heard the boss, let's move!"

As G-Team scrambled into the turrets, massive cannons sprang up all over the base and began adjusting their range.

"Dr. Stanton, do you have his bioacoustics?" Serizawa asked.

In response, Stanton fiddled with his equipment, and in that moment a deep thudding sound filled the room - Godzilla's heartbeat.

"Acoustics coming up," Stanton said. "Okay, he's closing. We're at eight hundred meters."

"His movements are erratic," Graham noted, eyes scanning the screen before her. "Heart and breathing elevated -"

"He's definitely not happy about something." Stanton replied.

"How are they getting all this?"

Jodie flinched, not expecting to hear Mark's voice. Let alone so close. She rolled her shoulders.

"Emma isolated Godzilla's bioacoustics while working on the ORCA. It allows us to track him, even to get his vitals." she said.

Another low rumble shook the base.

"Circling now," Stanton said. "Closing in. Two hundred meters."

One of the few monitors still working began to brighten with a bright blue light. Godzilla was so close he was nearly blinding.

"Colonel?" Serizawa said.

"All teams in position." she commanded. "Weapons hot, ready to engage on my command."

The sound of the creature's heartbeat increased in volume.

"Hold your fire," Serizawa said. "We don't know if he'll attack."

"Well he will if you keep those guns on him." Mark said.

Jodie raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I want that thing dead more than anybody but unless this is a fight you know you can win, for god's sake stand down."

As much as she was loathe to admit it, he was right.

But something about all this felt off. This base had been here for years, why was Godzilla just now attacking it?

Unless he wasn't. Unless...

"He's right, we have to -!" Jodie screamed, nearly falling on Gill had she not caught her.

The floor buckled beneath everyone's feet. Although the base was anchored in bedrock, it shuddered like a hut in a hurricane.

"We need to stand down." she continued.

Mark turned to her. Considering her words, Serizawa nodded.

"You can't be serious." Foster replied.

Serizawa faced the colonel. "I am. Stand down."

Foster paused, frowning. Slowly, she reached for her earpiece.

"Stand down. Save your weapons, do not engage."

As the machines whirred back into silence, so did the titan's thudding heartbeat.

"Listen," Chen said. "His heart rate - it's slowing."

Maybe Mark had been onto something. What if Godzilla wasn't trying to attack them? What if he was trying to  _warn_  them? The base going on the defensive certainly hadn't helped though. Hopefully, if Jodie had been right in saying that he was more than a monster, Godzilla would recognize their passive act as he had their active one.

"Open the shields." Mark said.

Everyone in the room stared.

"Oh yeah,  _sure_ , let's bring him in for a beer - are you out of your goddamn  _mind_?" Stanton said frantically.

 _Bold words coming from someone that's done nothing but run and hide_ , she thought. But as dangerous - and, admittedly stupid - the idea was, Jodie couldn't help but agree.

"He has to see us." she started. She could see Gill staring at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Jodie -" Gill whispered.

"Let him know we're not a threat." she said.

Mark and Jodie shared a look of understanding. Maybe, in some way, he really did take what she said to heart.

"Open the shields." he insisted.

Serizawa's brow creased, eyes darting between Jodie, Mark and the team sitting at the command controls.

"Do it." he finally decided.

Dr. Stanton hadn't liked that answer any more than Gill had, but he begrudgingly complied. Flicking a switch, the blast doors began to rumble, slowly revealing the vast sea beyond.

Gill reached for Jodie's hand, their fingers laced together.

The more they opened, the less she could see. They were only halfway but all that reached her eyes was a bright light. The room was hushed, bated breath watching the doors open and revealing the source of the light that bathed the room with a blindingly bright blue.

Through the shadowy murk of the ocean, she could make out a shape. Looks like Godzilla had grown back those dorsal spines.

She squinted, feeling Gill's grasp on her strengthen. Glancing over at her, she saw that was far from afraid - captivated was more like it. But what was he doing? He was still about 100 meters out, waiting, watching. All he did was float in place, his scutes brightening and going dark like a strobe light.

It was beautiful.

In that moment, everyone in the room was too stunned to say anything, too wrapped up in awe and trepidation. Save for Hendricks, who spoke up from the back of the room.

"What's with the light show?"

"It's an intimidation display," Vivienne said, looking ready to flinch at any given moment. "Like a gorilla pounding its chest."

"Consider us  _very_  intimidated." Coleman said.

"I don't think it's for us." Chen said.

Jodie didn't think so either. If this was a warning, it must've been about something serious. If whatever was out there made  _Godzilla_  nervous, it was definitely something to be worried about.

Could there even be something else out there? Something bigger? Mothra was in her cocoon, and as a pupa she was hardly a threat. Was there a new titan reawakening and Monarch had somehow missed it?

Mark stepped forward, almost as if he were hypnotized by that mesmerizing bioluminescence.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He ignored her, walking right up to the glass. To Godzilla.

Maybe whatever she had said worked a little too well.

Then, Godzilla's spines flickered and faded to black, and nothing could be seen beyond the window. Nothing could be heard either. A collective sigh of relief filled the command center.

"Well that was interesting -" Coleman breathed before he was interrupted by an ear-shattering growl.

Godzilla was suddenly there, charging at the window at a speed too fast to register. In seconds he filled their view. There was a collective yelp in the room, the rush from the titan's generated current shaking the base and knocking nearly everyone to their feet. Jodie recoiled, hiding in Gill's grasp as they curled into each other, preparing for impact.

Until Godzilla swam right past them, disappearing into the deep once more.

As the lights in the base flickered back on, Jodie could see on one of the tracking monitors that this time, he was gone for real. Jodie let out a sigh of relief. Godzilla didn't seem to appreciate having all those guns on him, but luckily for them he seemed to have a sense of humor about it. A terrifyingly volatile, reptilian sense of humor.

Stanton peeked up from behind his desk. "Can we maybe close the shields now?"

Mark darted for the controls. "Show me his territorial routes."

"What - why?" Stanton asked.

"'Cause I wanna start a boat tour - just show me!"

" _Okay_ , comin' up."

On one of the room's larger screens, a map of the earth appeared with Godzilla's recorded paths highlighted. Jodie was puzzled for a minute before looking at it,  _really_  looking at it. They weren't random.

"Care to tell us what you're looking for?" Foster said.

"When an animal leaves its hunting ground it's usually because it's threatened by something." Mark said.

Walking closer to the screen, she could see what he meant. On one of the more recently recorded pathways, Godzilla had deviated significantly from his usual routine. Suddenly, something in Jodie's mind clicked.

"What if it's not another titan that spooked him.." she said, absentmindedly biting her nails. "What if it's something that sounded like one?"

"Run a course projection." Vivienne said urgently.

"We gotta go after him," Mark said. "He's looking for something out there - could be the ORCA."

There was another bout of nervous silence before Serizawa spoke up.

"Dr. Stanton?"

"All paths have him landing in the same place," something in his expression dropped. "Antarctica."

Jodie caught a sudden chill, feeling a pit form in the center of her stomach.

"Good!" Mark began. "Let's go! Let's go find them! Let's -"

He stopped, suddenly seeing the anxious expressions on everyone's faces.

"Wait....what's in Antarctica?"

"Barnes, contact the Argo." Foster said slowly.

"Yes, ma'am."

This was going to be a long,  _long_  day.

_____

"Is everything ready?"

The Controller's voice snapped Elena out of her daze.

"All set. Just needs its Proxies." The Regulator replied, glancing over at Elena and Madison. The look lingered before wrenching herself away, leaving Elena more puzzled than ever.

"Good. Our time is limited so let's make the most of it."

Since stepping foot on the cold Antarctic ground she had been a bundle of latent anxiety ready to explode at any moment. But she had to keep her composure, especially when there was a child that was surely feeling the same as her - if not worse.

That poor kid.

Since the minute these strangers had spirited her - of all people - away, she knew there could only have been one thing they wanted. And a part of her knew that no matter how much she tried to avoid it, something like this was inevitable.

When they took her by the arm, throwing her in a freezing metal chair and tightening its straps around her arms and legs, she didn't fight. There was no need, not when they could easily point every gun in the room at her and force her into compliance or strike her down like all the other innocent people in the facility. It was then that they moved toward the child, trying desperately to make herself seem smaller as she hid behind Emma. The girl - Madison - she was a fighter. She could see it in her eyes the moment they met. She had come to recognize that people like her always seemed to be that way.

"Mom? Mom!" Madison cried, struggling against the mercenary's grasp.

There was a pained look in the woman's eyes as her grip on her child slipped through her fingers. Elena couldn't bear to watch. Madison had nearly kicked the man in the groin with how much she flailed against his tugging. But after being joined by another, they easily held her down, strapping her into another metal chair right next to Elena. Her breathing was speeding up, growing more erratic by the second as she tried to keep her cool. Emma approached them, leaning down as she tried to stay calm for the both of them.

"It's going to be fine - you're gonna be alright, Maddie." Emma's voice pierced her ears as they carefully placed that flimsy-looking headpiece on their heads. It was unnerving how much it resembled the one they had once used on her decades ago.

"This won't hurt at all, okay?"

Elena's eye twitched. Something felt off.

The Controller stepped toward them, sidling up to Emma with an unreadable expression. Elena didn't like anything about this. He outstretched his hands in the same manner he did on the ship.

"I can't begin to express how delighted I am to finally get to see this." he spoke, what sounded like joy barely reaching his tone.

Emma's hands clenched and unclenched into fists as she turned her head to the side, frowning. "No time to waste. Remember."

The Controller turned to face her, but the woman kept her eyes firmly planted on the ground. Her jaw tightened.

"Mom..?" Madison whimpered, confused.

The Controller carried on as though nothing had happened. "I'm sure there are at least a hundred questions running through your minds at the moment, but rather than wasting time explaining it to you both I believe we should begin. Shall we?"

Emma turned away, fiddling with the ORCA as it blared to life, a low thrumming echoing throughout the base.

"I think only one of them would need explaining." The Regulator chimed in.

"Ah," he said, an amused smile appearing on his face. "Right. Forgive me for my lapse in memory, Madison. You may be new at this, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."

Something in Elena's mind clicked. She was wondering why they were hooking the two of them up to the ORCA at the same time, but maybe she just didn't want to see it. It was like the time when she was 19 and had to use her brother's car to jumpstart her own after the piece of junk had broken down. Same principle.

But it was risky,  _too_  risky. If one of them messed up, the other could be lost within their own mind. Potentially forever. She had seen it happen, and she'd be damned if she let it happen to Madison.

"Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work. It didn't then, and it sure as hell won't now." Elena said through gritted teeth.

The Controller's grin smoothed back down to a thin-pressed line devoid of any emotion. "Circumstances have changed, dear, I'm sure you've noticed that by now." he said, condescension laced through every word.

"Besides, we're only here to claim what's rightfully ours after all."

Elena let out a laugh, shaky and disbelieving. "You think you can control thatthing?" She shook her head. " _Pendejos.._ all of you."

Beneath her facade, Elena's heart sank. This was worse,  _so_  much worse than the tests she had been coerced into performing in her youth. Back then was merely child's play, talking with these monsters as if they were her friends. All so Monarch could further their studies that hadn't seemed to help anyone in the time since then. And now? Now she was being asked to do something she had tried - and failed miserably - to do all those years ago. If it didn't work then, what could possibly be so special about the ORCA that would make it work now? Was it really as easy as having a human conduit? Turning her head as far as she could, she whispered.

"Madison,"

The girl looked over, eyes wide with fear.

"Just follow my lead, okay? I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

Without saying a word, she nodded.

"It's ready," Emma spoke, voice low and holding an anger just beneath her collected demeanor. "Beginning the connection process."

The ORCA's thrumming grew in intensity, the sound becoming so loud it encompassed all of Elena's senses. She slammed her eyes shut, trying her best to concentrate on literally anything else. It was an impossible feat with the frequency the device was producing. It was like a heartbeat dialed up to 100, and at some point she could hardly discern it from her own. Her nails dug into the chair, scraping against its metal as her consciousness began to sink. The last thing she saw was Madison going limp in the chair beside her as she too succumbed to the pulsing sound wave.

_____

It was dark, and cold -  _so_  cold.

Looking around, Elena saw nothing but an infinite expanse of nothing, a mind-void that was so hauntingly familiar she felt like throwing up. Everything that she had tried to suppress was suddenly rushing back to her, but she couldn't deal with that. Not yet. She had a job to do.

 _Madison?_ Elena called, trying her best to hide the panic in her voice.

 _Madison!_  she yelled again, voice endlessly bouncing off nonexistent walls. Something wasn't right. _C'mon kid, fight it_

Suddenly, something in the void jolted through her nerves, like the rumble of a transformer after being overloaded with electricity. In the back of her throat she could taste bile and a faint hint of batteries.

_Well_

_Well_

_Well,_

_It's been a long time, Speaker_

Shit.

_____

It felt like she was drowning.

Everything was fuzzy, like she was suspended in the middle of a bottomless pool of water but at the same time laying flat on the ground. She got up? At least she was sure she did. She couldn't tell what was up or down or anywhere. It was like she had her eyes shut, but it was different. When she closed her eyes long enough she could see those weird flashes and starry things your brain made you see, but here, there was nothing.

 _Hello?_  she said. At least she could still talk somehow.

The silence was deafening, but if she concentrated hard enough she thought she could make out a muffled sound. But it was so far and so faint that it barely registered as a voice. Waiting for an answer, she waded through the void's heavy atmosphere.

 _Hello?_  she called again. She couldn't tell if she was screaming or not.  _Mom?_   _E-Elena?_

She wanted to sob. This place was suffocating, never in her entire life had she felt so alone, so cut off from everything around her. It was like her deepest fears come to life. Before she could cry out from frustration, a rolling wave of sound traveled through the void, vibrating through her form and nearly knocking her off the balance she had assumed she found.

Whatever it was felt far, but it was coming ever closer with each breath she took. It frightened her, but not in the way the Controller and his men did. It was like staring at a tornado or a tsunami and knowing there was nothing you could do but watch it pass, leaving destruction in its wake. Although she wasn't sure if she could even escape, Madison ran.

_____

Gathered around a set of digital displays, Jodie and the Monarch team prepared for another briefing.

"The specimen at this site has been kept entirely off-book," Vivienne began. "And since it's a fairly recent discovery our data is limited, but it seems to be another apex predator."

"Emma called it Monster Zero." Serizawa added.

An x-ray of the creature flashed across the screen. Jodie's brows furrowed. It was all horns, claws and teeth, tangled together in its snake-like necks. She couldn't begin to imagine what it looked like alive. Now she was pretty tolerant of most titans, all things considered, but even this looked like a bad one.

"It may have been a rival alpha to Godzilla, battling for dominance over the other titans." Vivienne said.

"Dr. Chen?" Serizawa asked.

"I've been scouring through thousands of years' worth of myths and legends," she said, opening a file on the screen that showed at least dozens of photos and documents of possible evidence of the creature. "But it's almost as if people were scared to even write about it.

"As if it was meant to be forgotten." Serizawa mused.

The group turned to Stanton as he entered the room, head hung low.

"So, I hate to crash the party but I got some bad news."

"You can just say 'news' it's always bad." Barnes groaned.

"We lost Godzilla. Dropped off the scan near Venezuela."

" _What_?" Mark asked, already on edge.

Despite the anxious energy building in the room, Stanton almost seemed excited.

"I'm tellin' you," he said. "Dr. Brooks was right - it's the hollow earth."

Chen sighed, tiredly doubling over the screen.

"That's how he moves so fast, using these underwater tunnels like wormholes - just like, zippin' around -" he punctuated with jerky hand movements through the air.

Jodie rolled her eyes. All the supposed 'evidence' she and Gill found of that conspiracy back in their podcast days always ended in dead ends or hoaxes. But Stanton had always firmly believed it after Dr. Houston Brooks' reports from Skull Island had gotten around. He hadn't even found solid evidence, as it was all based on those seismic charges that Monarch expedition dropped back in the 70s - they were wild guesses at best. She could believe a number of things, but at some point she had to draw a line.

"Everyone look sharp," Foster interrupted. "We're approaching the base."

_____

Elena screamed as a ribbon of lightning struck too close for her comfort.

Though she couldn't be harmed within the headspace, this was not a good sign. Manifestations like that were only a sign of the connection process, and it was getting worse by the minute.

Shrill cackling filled the void as she was knocked off her feet, landing on nothing. It was the most terrible sound she had ever heard, a sound she would only hear in her worst nightmares.

 _Not long enough in my opinion_ , she grunted, righting herself.

_You_

_wound_

_us_

_Is that any way to treat an old friend?_

_Old friend my ass_

Another bout of that incessant laughter.

_Took you long enough_

_To come crawling back_

_To us_

_As if I wanted to_ , she was quickly growing tired of this banter. If she could just find a way to snap herself back to reality -

_This has always been your reality, Speaker_

_We're connected, you and I_

_We're going to have so much fun together_

_Not if I have anything to say about it_

_____

Madison hadn't made it far before the presence caught up to her, knocking her off of her imagined pace and disorienting her even further.

The headspace rumbled, as if thunder surrounded her on all sides. No matter what she tried she couldn't lessen its volume, but that wasn't what shook her bones.

Whatever was producing the rumbling felt big. Not in the sense that it was hundreds of feet taller than herself, exactly. Big in the same way Mothra felt when she touched her. In a strange way, it was almost comforting. Then she felt the push.

Again, it was similar to the feeling back at the temple. Words, vague imagery being pushed to the front of her mind. But this time, the thoughts - or,  _thought_ , rather - spilled forth.

 _You shouldn't be here, little Speaker_ , the voice boomed.

Madison shuddered. The voice hadn't had a specific sound, but it felt loud. Strong. And most of all, eerily familiar.

But as quickly as the feeling came, it left like waves disappearing into foam on a shore, and Madison felt herself being swept away.

She couldn't control it, this strange feeling.

It was like waking up from a nap but still feeling like you're in a dream as the world around you slowly became clearer and clearer. In seconds she could discern shapes - mom? The Controller? She cursed to herself, willing her eyes to focus. Blinking, she felt a throbbing migraine pound against her skull like a caged animal begging to be set free.

The shapes were becoming more recognizable by the second, and they were moving. Frantically, it seemed. She groaned, head lolling to the side in an attempt to dispel the headache.

"Maddie? Maddie!" Hands shook her shoulders as the pressure around her arms and legs went away. She was free.

"Mom?" she said in a groggy voice.

"Oh thank god." Her mother pulled her into a hug, squeezing the wind out of her lungs.

Pulling away she looked into her eyes, searching for any sign of harm. "You did so well, hon but right now we need to go, okay?"

"Wh-What?" her head whipped around, looking over at Elena.

She was still way out of it, and it didn't look like she was coming back to them any time soon.

"What about -"

"Don't worry about her." The Regulator unclasped Elena from the chair, scooping her up in her arms. "We've run out of time. They're already on their way."

Looking around, she could see the mercenaries placing strange objects within the holes drilled into the ice. Explosives?

"Who?" Madison didn't receive an answer as the Regulator led them through the ice tunnels. " _Who's here_?"

If it was who she thought, maybe this nightmare would finally be over after all.


	7. Old Rivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I watched as the Lamb opened the first of seven seals, and I heard one of four living creatures say in a voice like thunder: come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so over on my wattpad i have the fic divided up into 2 acts and i already have the entire first act drafted and ready to be posted !! which hopefully will give me enough time to take a brief break seeing how i'll be going on vacation in about a week or two  
> i'll try to get chapters posted while i'm away tho!!

As they neared the base, Jodie and the rest of the Monarch team filed into the Argo's hangar and into an Osprey. Once they were aboard and buckled in, the platform door opened below them.

"Hang on." the pilot said.

Turning her attention out the window, Jodie took a deep breath, focusing on the world outside. She couldn't see much save for a bright array of stars, framed in moonlight and a thin layer of clouds. Snow whirled past the window in thick flurries. Her nose scrunched in a slight grimace. Jodie always hated the cold.

Meanwhile, G-Team geared up.

"Shows signs of heavy contact," one of the men said, pulling up a ground scan. "Looks like there's casualties."

Switching to a map of the base, it depicted a network of tunnels carved through the ice - and one large cavern they all led to. Graham pointed at the central chamber.

"If they  _are_  looking to extract genetic samples they'll be here - in the biolabs."

Something about that struck Jodie as wrong. Monster Zero was frozen solid, there was no need for the ORCA let alone Emma and Madison. There was a chance they didn't need them  _yet_ , but that just made her even more nervous. What if the two hostages weren't even here? She cleared her mind of the questions. There was no turning back now.

"Alright, two minutes." Barnes yelled over the Osprey's whirring and the wind outside. "Check your equipment and stand by the door!"

Those two minutes felt like an eternity, but eventually the Osprey touched down and G-Team marched out onto the ice. Jodie and the others hung back until they got the all-clear. It was hard to wait when everyone else was so restless. Jodie motioned to bite her nails but barely remembered she was wearing gloves. Mark was pacing back and forth, Serizawa subconsciously held his pocket watch in one hand, and the others were glued to a series of screens showing G-Team's movements. Finding that her mind could only focus on Gill and the increasingly illogical circumstances surrounding the kidnapping, she joined them in watching the live feed.

They all watched intently, no one daring to take a breath.

As Foster divided the team, they soon began picking their way through the tunnels. That was when they saw the corpses. Jodie shuddered, feeling slightly nauseous at the sight of more bodies - more colleagues. As they continued on, she found it hard to breathe altogether, having to step away from the screens to collect herself.

"Remember. Eyes wide, we got friendlies in here." Foster said, voice shrouded by static.

Suddenly, the cameras stopped moving. Within seconds a loud noise that could only have been an explosion sounded from deep within the base, then every camera was a blur of confusion. It was dizzying to watch, yet nearly everyone in the Osprey couldn't bring themselves to look away. But Jodie had seen enough bloodshed in one day. She all but collapsed on one of the seats, legs feeling like jelly as she tried to calm herself down.

Among the chaos the sound of gunfire rang through the tunnels as mercenaries came swarming from all directions. She could still see the cameras through the group of bodies huddled together, but the footage was indistinguishable. But through all  the fighting, one camera stabilized for a brief moment, and in those few crucial seconds two familiar faces could be seen in the distance. But beside them was another woman being carried by one of the mercenaries - completely unconscious. Jodie cocked her head to the side. She wasn't wearing the ecoterrorist's signature uniform, and Jodie hadn't seen her at the Yunnan temple. Who was she?

"Hold your fire, I'm going after them!" Foster shouted.

In the next second, Mark was bolting out of the Osprey, sprinting toward the base like a bat out of hell.

"Oh no, someone stop him." Jodie said, nowhere near concerned.

"Mark!" Serizawa yelled after him.

There wasn't anything any of them could do, she doubted these scientists had any combat training. Jodie knew she sure as hell didn't. Instead of wasting her energy worrying about Mark getting turned into target practice, she turned her attention back on the camera feeds. That is, until the signal began to break up.

"Guys," Chen said, trying not to sound alarmed. "I'm getting an EKG reading."

_____

Despite having her hand in her mother's vice grip, Madison struggled to keep up with her as they ran through tunnels and catwalks, making their way up the base and out of the gunfire below.

It was even harder when your mind was elsewhere, in every sense of the word. She was still trying to snap herself out of it and didn't help that they were being herded like sheep. Thankfully, they slowed, stopping in the center of a catwalk as a shape emerged from the other side.

It was her father.

"Let them go!" he shouted, holding out a gun in both hands.

She could only stare ahead, mouth slightly agape. It was her father, he was actually  _here_. He rarely left his wolves back in Colorado but there he was, standing just a few feet away. She felt like she could choke.

Suddenly, a shot rang out from above them, and the mercenary ready to shoot her father crumpled to the floor. Something fell from his hand and clattered onto the catwalk between them. With bared teeth, her father pointed the gun at the Controller.

"Mark?" her mother whispered under her breath, completely in shock.

"Emma, Madison, let's go!" he shouted.

"Dad..?" she could barely hear herself, overwhelmed with panic and still recovering from whatever trip they made her have mere minutes ago.

"Let's go - Emma, Maddie, come on!" he repeated.

Madison took a few steps forward, still in a haze. A million questions ran through her mind but all she knew was that her father was here, and that everything was going to be fine.

"Madison, walk to me! Walk to me now, come on, honey." his voice became more urgent.

Her mother remained motionless behind her.

"Emma, what are you doing? Let's go,  _come on_!"

"Dad.." she whimpered.

"Maddie," she finally spoke.

Hearing her voice, she came into focus. She wanted to walk towards him  _so_  badly, but something about it felt wrong. He had come after them, yes, but surely he couldn't have gotten here on his own - not without Monarch's help. And they both knew his stance on  _that_.

"Madison," her mother said firmly.

Everything else became white noise in the back of her mind. Would he have come after them had it not been for Monarch? Would he have even known?

Madison broke the gaze held between herself and her father, expression changing gradually from relief to distrust. She stepped back, behind her mother and next to the still unconscious Elena.

At that same moment, her mother knelt down and picked up whatever that mercenary had dropped. A detonator. Glancing up at the frozen giant beside them, she looked directly at her father.

"I'm sorry," her mother said. "Run."

She pressed the detonator.

In less than a second a chain of explosions ran through the wall of ice. Cracks spread with lightning speed as chunks of ice fell to the ground. Madison felt her mother grab her once more, following after the Regulator and pulling her into an elevator. The Controller stepped in shortly afterward.

She was still in shock from the encounter when the elevator brought them above ground, and she was hurried into the stolen Osprey. Her mind was fractured, racing between the void, the gunfire, her  _dad_..

Dad. She had seen him climb into another elevator shortly after they had. He could be here any second. Madison kept looking behind her, secretly hoping that he would appear out of nowhere once more. But that became hard to do when she was pushed into the Osprey, the Controller and his men scrambling aboard. The Regulator all but dropped Elena into a seat, haphazardly buckling her in. Elena let out a pained groan.

"Why is dad here?" Madison asked, confusion and hurt evident in her voice.

"I don't know, honey -" her mother began.

The base below continued to collapse, and she couldn't help but feel worried about him. As she felt the Osprey push itself off the ground, her stomach dropped. "We can't leave him!"

Instead of responding to her, her mother looked over at the Controller.

"What are you waiting for? Wake it up." he demanded.

Her mother gave her another glance before turning back to the ORCA, standing up and walking toward the back of the plane, still holding the device in her arms. She stared out the craft's open hatch.

What was she doing? Didn't she know dad was still out there? Yes, they split up but didn't she understand how much she still cared about him? Why did it always have to be like this? Why did she always have to choose?

Looking down at the fracturing ice below - and the people desperately running away from the collapsing base - her mother pressed a series of buttons and the ORCA thrummed to life.

_____

Jodie felt it before she saw it.

A low, steady rhythm sounded from above - Emma had turned on the ORCA. Looking outside, the damage from the explosion had already begun to split the ice they rested on into splinters. Mark and the G-Team scrambled for the Osprey, leaping and sliding past cracks and falling debris. As they all tripped into a pile from the shuddering ground beneath them, a glacier's worth of ice collapsed into a sinkhole, taking most of the base down with it. For a minute, Jodie was unsure if they'd make it.

She and the Monarch team stood just outside the Osprey, holding their breaths. As they all began to right themselves when the ice seemed to finally settle, a deep, eerie moan rose from the sinkhole, accompanied by a blast of warm air.

 _Shit shit shit shit shit_.

Steam and fog boiled up from the pit, almost as if the entrance to Hell had opened up right there in the outpost. It might as well could have, as a massive serpentine head slowly rose from the foggy cloud.

It was a dragon. Bigger than the Osprey, hell, bigger than the Argo. It was covered in dull, golden scales and long, twisting horns that swept back and framed its head like a crown. Twin tails whipped into the air like clubs. Through the Antarctic night, Jodie saw its devilish eyes burning in the crevice beneath its brow, sharp fangs gleaming in its jaws like the world's most unwelcoming smile. A forked tongue flicked in and out, tasting the air.

In any other situation, Jodie would've been in awe. It was certainly a breathtaking creature - beautiful even, in the same way an approaching storm was beautiful. But then another head snaked up. And a third.

Shaking their heads from thousands of years of sleep, hot puffs of air snorted from their nostrils. Bolts of yellow lightning cracked like a whip overhead. All they could do was stare, paralyzed by terror as huge leathery wings unfolded themselves, shaking off a millennia's worth of ice. They nearly blotted out the sky.

A three-headed dragon. It was something straight out of an ancient myth.

One of its spiked tails swept through one of the few structures still standing, rendering it to nothing but rubble without even trying. As Mark and the G-Team made a run for the Osprey, all three heads seemed to notice them at once. A sharp chill ran down Jodie's spine.

The soldiers opened fire on the creature. Though they hadn't missed, it barely seemed to register their efforts. They might as well have been throwing pebbles.

As they raced toward the Osprey, one of the heads - the left one - leaned down close to the ice, completely unfazed by the hail of bullets penetrating its snout. It almost looked curious, like this whole situation was funny.

Finally, they reached the craft. Jodie scooted over in her seat, buckling herself in as Mark and the rest climbed in. Looking out the door, there were still men out there shooting at the thing. But there was no time to waste, the Osprey's rotors began to turn.

Monster Zero looked more confused than hurt, but when the center head nudged the left one - whose attention was preoccupied with the minuscule beings - they all reared their heads towards the squad. Lightning crackled along their scaled hide, and it only increased, almost like they were charging up.

With a shrill cry, golden beams of energy shot out from all three maws and straight onto the soldiers. Jodie jumped at the sound. For a moment she saw them outlined from the bright light, and in the next they were gone.

But that wasn't the end of it.

The lightning, or  _whatever_  it was, surged through the ice, spreading out in all directions. It reached the Osprey in a matter of seconds. Sparks and raw electricity blanketed the ship, then everything went white. A sharp spasm jolted through her entire body like the worst cramp she'd ever had. It had only lasted a second or two, but when it finally passed her heart was still pounding through her ribs.

But that wasn't what worried her. The sound of the Osprey's engines quieted, the whole ship was dead on the ground.

Colonel Foster recovered first.

"This is Raptor One to Argo," she shouted into her earpiece. "Requesting immediate emergency extract, I repeat, urgent extract!"

"Griffin," Coleman shouted at the pilot, voice shaky. "Get us the hell out of here!"

_____

Madison watched in awe as Monster Zero rose from the sinkhole, but it wasn't the same feeling she had when she watched Mothra rise from her stasis. This was different. Terrifying.

And this was no mere animal either, as it reared their devilish heads she could see the fierce intelligence in their eyes. But there was also a cruelty there, and more than anything, rage. This wasn't a titan they would coexist with peacefully anytime soon.

It was difficult to make out what was going on from her position, and even harder when there was her mother disrupting her view and Elena in subconscious distress right beside her.  That worried her, if their plan had been to get that thing under control it was obviously backfiring. She doubted it was even possible.

That was when the dragons became in sync, spitting golden lightning at the people below - at her  _father_  . The lightning spread through the ice and lit up the other Osprey like a sparkler. Then every light within went dark. Monster Zero stooped forward to examine the aircraft.

Their left head was still low to the ground, lapping up the ashy remains of the soldiers they disintegrated before receiving an annoyed yip from the center head. They prowled forward.

"No,  _dad_!"

Since China she had done nothing but watch from the sidelines, doing what she was told, blindly trusting her mother's judgment. Trying to be a good daughter.

But this was too much.

She was given a choice, back the base. She could have left with her father, and now she thought maybe she had made the wrong decision. She couldn't just sit around and watch her father die. Leaping from her seat, she grabbed the ORCA, yanking it free from her mother's grasp.

"Madison -!"

Sliding to the Osprey's open bay, she worked the controls, changing the frequency to a piercing, head-drilling shriek. Monster Zero seemed to hear it, as all three heads howled in agony.

 _Take that, asshole_ , she thought.

But as she turned around, hearing a scream, she found Elena writhing in pain as well.  _Oh shit._ She must be still 'connected' to that thing, or whatever. Hopefully the ORCA was enough to snap her out of it, wherever "it" was. But she didn't have the chance to make sure, as her mother had already sprung for the machine.

"Honey, let go!"

She tried to wrestle it away, but Madison fought, shouting and swinging her arms, flailing about like a fish out of water. Monster Zero's heads whipped around, turning toward them as they identified the source of the sound. Once more, they started to flicker with energy.

"Madison," her mother shouted. "You have to let go -"

Suddenly, the Controller was there right behind her. His fingers dug through her coat and into her arm like a vice. Together, he and her mother wrenched the ORCA away from her grasp. She was trying to catch her breath as she watched her mother power it down.

With the noise gone, Monster Zero's center head recovered the quickest, shaking himself from side to side, banishing the ringing from his ears. The other two were still in a daze, the center one biting down on the left's top horn and tugging it upward. They snapped at each other. By that time, they were already a fair enough distance away from the beast when their internal light dissipated.

Madison felt her mother try to put a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away, continuing to watch the Osprey doors shut as the dragon refocused their attention on the downed aircraft below. There was something else on their way, she could feel it. She couldn't quite pinpoint why, but something told her that it was different from that monster - that it was there to help them. She shut her eyes.

In that instant, words and images flashed across her mind -  _danger, ancient enemy, dad, danger, hurry_. It was all coming at her so fast she couldn't make out which thoughts were her own or which belonged to that foreign presence. She let out a single thought, picturing it like a wave washing away the clutter in her mind.

 _Protect them, please_ , she thought.  _They don't deserve to die_.

Returning to her seat beside Elena, she looked up at her.

"You okay?" she asked gently.

She was shaking like a leaf, obviously disoriented and unaware of the sudden change in her surroundings - but she was lucid. Looking down, she gave a brief nod.

Feeling eyes on her, she looked across the Osprey to see her mother staring at her, something like sadness filling her eyes. Madison glared.

_____

Bracing to be vaporized, Jodie was already picturing her epitaph - "Here lies Jodie Nicole Gillian-Lennox, she died as she lived: throwing herself into danger at any given opportunity." Wishing that she had at least gotten the chance to say a final goodbye to Gill, nothing came.

Nothing but the sound of the ORCA. Only this was different, it wasn't like the steady beat it usually produced, this one almost hurt to listen to. It was then that she saw the dragon writhing in distress.

But as quickly as it came, it stopped, and Monster Zero had renewed interest in them.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Jodie said as one of their heads loomed in the side window, staring into the Osprey. A second head struck them from the front, then the roof began to buckle. Windows shattered as the craft's frame bent from the force.

The hits came one right after the other, almost like they were playing with it - savoring their fear. Either way their fates were sealed. All around her, her colleagues - and Mark - were holding on for dear life. Stanton was praying, Coleman simply had his eyes closed. The one still on point was Chen. She looked completely serene, ready to accept whatever the universe had in store for her. Jodie couldn't understand how she could always be this way, but watching her, her own breathing evened out. The drum of her heart lessening in tempo.

Suddenly, the Osprey stopped sliding, and the pressure from all sides lifted off as all three heads rose up on their snaky necks, sniffing something in the air. The center head vented a peculiar hiss, the other two looking around, barking at each other. Whatever they were saying, they sounded afraid.

Everything within the Osprey was dead silent, the only sound to be heard was the steadily increasing beeping coming from the tracking device at the front of the craft.

Jodie looked out the window.

Blue light shimmered beneath the frozen surface, building in brightness as the ice bent, cracked, and melted. The Osprey rattled from the disturbance as the ice sheet exploded upward, what looked like a mountain springing from the water below. Not a mountain - Godzilla.

His spines were illuminated with his signature blue energy, the light racing up and down his back to the tip of his tail. With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound, the titan opened his jaws and roared.

The dragon shrieked back from all three throats, shaking their tails like a rattlesnake would. Their own yellow bioluminescence charged up their necks. Jodie remembered Vivienne's comment about the titans and their intimidation displays. There was clearly some sort of grudge there, maybe one that dated back millions of years or more. And here they were, caught between them. Sneering, Monster Zero reared up to their full height, outstretching their wings in attempt to make themselves appear bigger than they already were. But Godzilla was not so easily intimidated.

The two titans charged, their roars mixing into one earth-shaking battle cry.

As the titans slammed together, the shock wave raced over the ice and hammered into the craft. Jodie felt the sting of the collision in her ears as they went skidding across the ice once more, like they had suddenly landed in the deadliest game of hockey.

Outside, Godzilla wrestled with the dragon, tangled in their necks as he managed to grab one head - he couldn't tell which - and slammed it to the ground.

It wasn't clear to Jodie what struck them, but it sent them tumbling across the tundra until they crashed into a raised outcropping. Trying to shake the stars from her eyes, she saw the others frantically climbing out of the remains of the Osprey. She followed suit. But before she could, she saw Mark out of the corner of her eye, disoriented and tangled in loose wires. Looking out the craft and back to the struggling man, she groaned, roughly grabbing him by the arm and pulling him forward.

She thought she heard a muffled thanks, but over the cacophony of the fight before them, she couldn't be sure.

She didn't have the chance to dwell on it before she saw Monster Zero land a blow on Godzilla, and the lizard went down  _hard_ , sending him crashing on his back and shattering the permafrost beneath him. Monster Zero almost seemed mocking, snapping their jaws at the fallen titan. Thankfully, he quickly regained his footing, angrily roaring at the dragon.

Just as she and Mark landed on the ice, the Osprey dipped forward, disappearing into the crevice below. Jodie shivered, and not just because of the cold air whipping around her. But before they could move forward, Godzilla's tail landed ahead of them with a heavy thud. Breathless, they could only watch as the scutes on his tail glowed a bright blue, the light gradually moving up his spine. Blazing ever brighter until it reached the top of his head. It whirred like an engine before erupting from his mouth in the form of a blue beam of pure atomic fire.

Monster Zero dodged it with ease.

As they threaded through the beam, gold lightning crackled from their body, shooting out of their mouths with deadly precision. It struck Godzilla square in the chest, sending him staggering backward - directly into the sinkhole. Fire was still streaming from his jaws as he fell, toppling sideways and taking one of the few remaining buildings down with him. With a pained howl, Godzilla vanished into the abyss.

Jodie cursed to herself as she dodged past flying debris. She had been rooting for the lizard since the moment he arrived but his chances of winning were looking grimmer by the minute. She prayed that he had at least given them the chance to reach the Argo.

But it seemed that she had spoken too soon (she seemed to be doing that  _a lot_  nowadays), as Monster Zero had turned their attention back on them. She and Mark ran like hell toward the others, but one of the dragon's heads darted down - straight towards her.

She screamed, but it was cut short by a sudden hit to her side. As she drifted across the ice, she felt a heavy weight on her quickly pick itself back up, and her with it. It was Mark.

" _Come on_!" he shouted. He didn't have to tell her twice.

She was still reeling from her close brush with death, but that would have to come later. Right now, she had to run.

Behind them, a plume of flame erupted on one of Monster Zero's approaching heads, and then another. The dragon shrieked at the onslaught, and Jodie saw why.

The Argo and its escorts arrived.

Missiles streamed overhead, peppering Monster Zero with everything in their payload. The three heads screamed again, shrill and high-pitched, overwhelmed by the sudden attack. It swatted the air with one wing while shielding itself with the other, deflecting the rockets like you would a fly. One of them, however, spun out of control. And it was headed right towards them.

Jodie jumped to the ground but Mark couldn't take more than a step before it detonated right in their faces. The wave from its impact picked him up like a ragdoll, hurling him through the air until he collided with something hard. Jodie could've sworn she heard a crunch.

_Oh god oh god oh god he's dead he has to be._

The man might've gotten on her nerves, but she had seen enough death for one day. She ran back towards him.

Behind them, Monster Zero's center head snaked around, sensing a presence. It was Godzilla, he had managed to pull himself out of the sinkhole. Wasting no time, he launched himself at the dragon, just as another round of missiles struck the golden monstrosity.

But it was too much for the newly awakened beast. Attacked from all sides, they spread their wings, flapping so hard the ground shook as they took to the sky. Godzilla looked up, roaring after the dragon as they disappeared into the night.

 _This isn't over_ , she could practically hear him say.

As the world quieted, Godzilla retreating back into the icy water below, Jodie pulled Mark up, throwing one of his arms over her shoulder.

_____

Sitting in the Argo, everyone was silent. There wasn't much to say.

The plan was a complete failure. 'Failure' hadn't even begun to describe what had happened. And to add onto the growing list of problems, Jodie was currently in the throes of an argument. She could feel a migraine coming on.

"Anything on the satellites?" Graham asked, breaking the discussion.

"Subs have Godzilla hauling ass past Argentina," Stanton answered. "But we lost Monster Zero in a tropical storm over Brazil. Scanning the entire southern hemisphere. So far, nothing."

"Then scan the northern!" Foster snapped.

Graham nervously went back to looking at the trackers. The Colonel then turned back to Jodie.

"I know what I saw, Lennox, and I'm telling you  _she_  pulled that trigger."

"All due respect, Colonel, you saw wrong. Okay? She wouldn't have done that - christ, she recruited pretty much everyone in this room."

"Maybe she was forced, right?" Stanton suggested. "Maybe Madison was used as leverage."

"Thank you -  _exactly_. I know her, she wouldn't have done something like..something like  _that_."

"Foster's right." Mark's voice suddenly cut across the bridge. "It was Emma."

Jodie's heart sank. Everyone around her went silent as they all turned to stare at him.

"She saw it right, it was her. No one forced her." he added.

Word by word, the trust she had built up for her crumbled.

"Are you sure?" Serizawa asked.

Mark nodded.

Foster turned to face the map of the containment sites. All of them were on red alert.

"First she releases Mothra," she began. "And now Monster Zero. Anyone else sensing a pattern here?"

"Yes, and not a good one." Chen said, her face solemn. "It's as if she's trying to start a mass awakening."

"Well, it's just too bad that no one tried to warn you that was gonna happen."

 _And the self-righteous prick returns_ , she thought. And just when she was starting to tolerate him.

"Hang on, guys," Coleman interrupted, staring at something on a screen. "Why the hell would she want to release them? And why would she team up with a former Monarch operative to do it?"

Everyone in the room paused.

"Come again?" Serizawa looked up,

"Look," Coleman brought up a screenshot from G-Team's camera footage.

It showed Emma and Madison, that much was obvious. But what they hadn't caught was a third person, unconscious, and being carried by one of the mercenaries.

"Another hostage?" Graham mused.

"Or conspirator." Foster said.

Serizawa stood from his seat, removing his glasses as he got closer to the image. He pointed them at the woman.

"I know her..she was under Monarch's supervision, back when we were running joint operations with the military in the 80s. She wasn't there for long, but we should still have her files on record."

Chen joined him. "I think I might know who you're talking about." She tapped a finger against her lips. "My mother once spoke of a subject being kept in secret - rumors of a girl born with preternatural abilities. That she was able to speak to titans."

"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me." Mark grumbled.

"It's true." Graham said, hurriedly scrolling through her tablet. "She left decades ago but the evidence is all there."

The large screen in the center of the bridge showed the mystery woman's profile. It was dated, as she was still a child in the accompanying picture, but it was easy to see how she could've grown into the woman in the screenshot. In the back of Jodie's mind, dots began connecting. She flashed back to the Yunnan attack, how the larva seemed to be calmed by Madison rather than the ORCA. Holy shit.

"Three-headed dragons and now people that can talk to monsters? Next thing I know, you're gonna tell me magic is real." Mark said, crossing his arms.

"You wouldn't be wrong," Chen mused, still deep in thought. "This isn't the first time something like this has been documented. Legends from around the world each have their stories of humans communicating with the gods - oracles, augurs..mediums between humanity and the divine."

"Please," Mark grumbled.

"Within every myth there is truth, Dr. Russell." she snapped, voice full of conviction. "And myth is our compass."

Mark didn't have anything to say after that. Jodie would've laughed if she hadn't felt so sick to her stomach from Emma's betrayal.

"First the ORCA, now this? What are they planning?" Graham thought out loud.

"We will ask her when we find her." Serizawa's said firmly. "So let's keep looking."


	8. The Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the beast that comes up out of the abyss, will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a heads up i'll be leaving for a short vacation this friday which means the next chapter is gonna be posted on thursday !! and im coming back monday so next week's update might be a little late  
> anyway thank u for reading!!

Elena sat in her quarters, a metallic shock blanket draped over her shoulders.

The past few hours had been rife with shouting and tears - on both ends. Madison and Elena at odds with Emma and the Controller. If not for their irreplaceable abilities, she was sure he would've ordered them shot dead. After being dropped back into the cramped dorms in the ship by an oddly sullen Regulator, Elena and Madison had been alone for what felt like ages.

The kid sat alone on her cot, facing a wall with her knees drawn up to her chest. She could only imagine what was going through her mind. Madison hadn't spoken much since Antarctica, but no one on the ship were exactly in a talking mood after... _that_.

It was painful to think about. Though she had been put under for a majority of the ordeal, she had spent nearly all of it wrestling with the split consciousness of a megalomaniacal dragon, trying with all her might not to get swallowed by their all-encompassing will. If control was nearly impossible with the titans she encountered in the past, it was unthinkable with  _them_.

Then there was her mother, Emma, who had been escorted out of the room by the Controller's men a while ago. Her excuse was that she needed to make "tweaks" to the ORCA, but she doubted that. It was still hard for Elena to understand what exactly went down back at the base (even after both side's admittedly biased explanations) but from what she could gather, there had been some sort of betrayal. Madison's attitude said that much. And from the way that scaly bastard was acting after their release, she doubted anything good could come from that ORCA. She scowled.

That was another problem entirely. The Controller had said they only wanted to "take back their property" but they seemed to be doing the opposite. They were following them - that monster - from a safe distance. Though, there was no such thing in Elena's mind.

She could still hear them, their cackling. They weren't exactly the happiest about their welcoming party, but their giddiness over their newfound freedom  wasn't comforting either. Anything that made that thing feel the slightest hint of joy was bound to be something awful for everyone else. Before Madison's intervention, she had just begun to glimpse their forms manifesting within the headspace, adorned with lightning and sickly yellow storm clouds. The image of their eyes - burning with malice and staring at her like she was some sort of plaything - would be branded in the back of her mind for the rest of her life.

"Do you..um," Madison shifted in her seat, turning to look at Elena. "You knew what that place was, right?"

She knew she wasn't talking about Outpost 32. She nodded. "I'm sorry you had to experience it like that." She looked down at her hands, at the lines that ran through her palms. "If done right, it can be  _amazing_. Beautiful, even."

She found a slight, nostalgic smile growing on her face. It took her back to her childhood, when she innocently held hours-long conversations with the radioactive lizards and giant insects under Monarch supervision. She wasn't used to remembering when going into the headspace was fun, when it didn't hurt. "But if done wrong..."

Madison looked at the floor, resting her chin on her knees.

"I don't know what I saw. It was..scary." she said, shifting her head to the side so that she could look at Elena. "But it also felt familiar? Like someone had dropped me in the middle of the ocean, but I just kept sinking until I hit the bottom."

"There was a voice too," Madison outstretched her arms before her, looking at her hands as well. "It wasn't as scary as that sinking feeling, it helped bring me out of it actually. But I couldn't really tell who it belonged to. It didn't sound like my mom. Or you."

A small, barely noticeable smile appeared on Elena's face. "I think I might have an idea."

Madison cocked her head to the side in confusion, brows scrunching together before realization dawned on her face. "No way."

Elena nodded.

"But he's supposed to be one of the good ones right? Why did I feel so...out of control?"

"Control doesn't depend on whether a titan meets our standards of 'good' or not. I wouldn't even call it control, really. It's more of a two-way street. In that place, you're on equal ground. At least, that's how it's supposed to be."

Elena pulled the blanket closer around her.

"These people don't understand..they never will." she leaned back, resting her head against the wall behind her. "It's not like your mom's ORCA, can't be used like some machine - can't use  _others_  like a machine. That's not the point, never has been."

"It's something you feel. A connection." Without realizing, her hand hovered over her heart.

Madison considered her words, becoming deep in thought.

"You keep using that word."

"It's the only way I know how to describe it. That's what that place is for - connecting. But I guess it's just human nature to twist something like that into something ugly."

_____

Keeping track of Godzilla wasn't much of a problem.

In the past he hadn't been bothered by the submarines and drones in his wake, trailing after him like a school of remoras. And he didn't seem to mind now. Jodie often found herself wondering how they fit into his world. Did he think of them as part of his pod, like a whale? Or did he think of them the way sailors thought of seabirds circling their boats like bothersome scavengers?

Whatever it was, she didn't have time to dwell on it before Graham pulled up a global map and traced a path depicted on it with her finger.

"Godzilla appears to be following the same path as Emma's Osprey, heading north over South America to here." she zoomed in to a small island. "Outpost 56 in Isla de Mara, Mexico. We touch down in ten minutes."

It was a small island in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the mainland. The satellite map depicted a dormant volcano with what appeared to be a base built near its mouth.

But Isla de Mara wasn't the only outpost Monarch was worried about. At least 6 other outposts seemed to be compromised. Thailand, Sudan, Brazil, Germany, North America, the list went on. Even Skull Island wasn't immune from the chaos.

Was Emma really about to release the titans in those outposts too? Sure, she'd always had a great deal of respect for them - liked them, even. Jodie could relate. But she wasn't a terrorist. She knew in the back of her mind that if she was doing something like this, she had to have a damn good reason.

"What about the people?" Mark asked.

"I-I'm sorry?" Graham said.

He pointed to the sleepy coastal village near the volcano. "The people - the ones in that town down there who don't realize they're gonna be the special of the day."

"Foster's already sent G-Team to evacuate as many as they can." Jodie said.

Suddenly, a bridge officer's voice cut through the conversation. "Dr. Serizawa, we have a call on the emergency channel - from Isla de Mara."

"Answer it." he said.

Emma Russell filled the screen, standing alone in what looked like a plain white room. Every pair of eyes in the bridge was trained on her, the air was heavy with trepidation.

"I suppose I should go first," she said.

"Where's Madison?" Mark snapped.

After briefly closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she glanced somewhere beyond the screen. "She's fine, Mark. Trust me."

"Trust is a little hard to come by, Dr. Russell," Foster interjected. "Especially after what you pulled."

"I know," she tiredly rubbed her eyes. "And I can only imagine what you're all thinking. But if there were any other way to do this, I would."

"Do  _what_ , Emma?" Mark demanded.

Jodie couldn't understand how she could remain so calm knowing she had all that blood on her hands. It took all of her self-control not to interrupt the discussion.

"I'm saving the world." she said, not a hint of irony in her voice.

"By releasing those monsters? That doesn't make sense!"

"As impossible as it seems, it does. Hear me out." she said. The Argo was silent.

"After we lost Andrew, I  _swore_  his death would not be in vain. That I would find an answer. A solution to why the titans were rising. But as I dug deeper, I realized that they were here for a reason and that despite all the years we spent trying to stop them, we never dared to confront the truth."

"What truth?"

"Humans have been the dominant species for thousands of years and look what's happened - overpopulation, pollution, war. The mass extinction we feared has already begun. And we are the cause.  _We_  are the infection."

Jodie turned away from the screen, crossing her arms. Despite her gut instinct telling her she shouldn't believe a word, she found herself agreeing with her.

"But like all living organisms, the Earth unleashed a fever to fight this infection - its original and rightful rulers - the titans. They're part of the Earth's natural defense system, a way to protect the planet. To maintain its balance. But if governments are allowed to contain them, destroy them, or use them for war, the human infection will only continue to spread. And within our lifetime, our planet will perish, and so will we. Unless we restore balance."

"And what's gonna be left?" Jodie finally interrupted. "A dead world overrun by titans?"

"No, Mrs. Lennox, the exact opposite."

The feed cut to a time-lapse video of the ruins of Honolulu, San Francisco and Las Vegas, transforming from desolate wastelands to sanctuaries overrun by plant life.

"Just like how a forest fire replenishes the soil, or a volcano creates new land, we've seen signs that these creatures will do the same. Wherever the titans go, life follows - triggered by their radiation. They are the only thing that can reverse the destruction that we started. They are they  _only_  guarantee that life will carry on. But for that to happen, we have to set them free. We have to reconnect."

"You're murdering the world." Chen said, anger evident in her voice.

"No." Emma said. "Because as difficult as this will be, I promise humanity will not go extinct. Using the ORCA and..." for a brief moment she looked away from the screen. Jodie could probably guess what else (or rather,  _who_  else) she was using in her scheme.

"If we hadn't forgotten our connection to the world around us, none of this would have to happen. But using the ORCA, we can return to a natural order. A forgotten order where we coexisted in peace with the titans. The first gods."

"This is a dangerous path," Serizawa said. "You are meddling with forces beyond our comprehension, gambling with the lives of  _billions_!"

"And what are you gambling with, Serizawa? Monarch is  _broken_. It's on the verge of being shut down by a government whose only objective is to eradicate these creatures and when that happens, what will our chances be?"

"You are out of your goddamn mind!" Mark snapped. "First you put our daughter's life in danger, now you get to decide the fate of the world? That's rich, Emma."

"I couldn't be more sane, and Madison couldn't be stronger. After we lost Andrew, I trained her to survive and at least now she'll have a fighting chance. You don't know how crucial she is to all thi -"

"Is that what she is? A pawn in your little game!?" Mark shouted. "There's some things you can't control."

"And there are some things you can't run from!" she retaliated, voice cracking for a brief second.

"This won't bring him back to us."

That got her, rendering her silent for what felt like a long stretch of time. But eventually she shook it off.

"I can only urge you to take refuge." she said. "Over the last sixty years Monarch has prepared bunkers around the world for situations such as this. I suggest you find them."

And with that, the screen went black.

Everyone was speechless. What  _could_  they say? As wild as it sounded, she made some good points. Too good. Looking around the room, there were hints of doubt seeded throughout everyone's faces. It frightened Jodie, how she found herself almost agreeing with her. But what scared her more was how serious she sounded. After everything that she said, it was obvious that she had been planning this right under their noses for a while. Using her high clearance to smuggle the necessary information to those extremists. Odds were good that she had even managed to plant some of them in different outposts, waiting for the call to unleash hell. Jodie felt sick to her stomach.

But then Chen broke the spell.

"That  _bitch_."

 _Took the words right out of my mouth_ , Jodie thought.

"How long until this thing lands?" Mark asked.

"Three minutes." Foster answered.

"You might wanna rethink that." Stanton said.

"Why?" Foster asked, irritated.

"Something's not right. Check this out." he replied, pulling up security footage from Isla de Mara's containment facility. Bodies donning Monarch uniforms littered the floor in nearly every room.

"Emma's not here," he continued. "I mean, the signal's strong enough that we could pick it up but it's - it's moving."

On the tracking screen showed a dot - the ORCA's latent signal - flickering before shooting away, disappearing altogether.

"What the hell.." Mark muttered.

"She could be anywhere.." Graham commented, brows furrowed deep in thought.

Jodie groaned. "Well, this is the pits."

Suddenly, an alarm began blaring.

"What now?" Mark asked.

"Oh, jesus," Coleman said. "The containment system is shutting down."

"How much time do we have?" Serizawa asked.

_____

 _At least dad is okay_ , Madison thought.  _For now._

But nothing else was, everything else was going to shit. None of this was happening the way her mother explained it. Growing up, she remembered being told that she was special, that she was a crucial part in helping to ensure that humanity and titans could live together. She always thought her mother was being dramatic not  _this_. She had never asked for any of this. There were a lot of things in her life she didn't ask for.

It sounded like a good thing, saving the world. But she had left a lot of things out. Like how many people were going to die, what it was like to see someone die, thinking your own father was among the dead. She wanted to scream.

Her mother didn't have the right to decide who lived and who didn't. She didn't have the right to use her - and Elena - as a means to an awful end. She glared daggers at her mother and the Controller, who stood a fair distance away.

She wasn't supposed to be here (and neither was Elena, who stood close behind her, keeping an eye out for any of the strange humanoids), peeking around a corner in the ship's control room. Though escape was nearly impossible, the Controller and his goons were being more lenient around her and Elena after what happened in Antarctica - which is to say they left the door to their dorms open. Though it seemed like they were trying to make them feel comfortable with their situation, to Madison, it felt more like being mocked.

"Containment system bypassed. We're ready to broadcast the ORCA." said one of the men seated at the ship's controls.

The Controller looked over at her mother. She walked toward the ORCA, opening the case. She seemed a little hesitant, something Madison hadn't anticipated. She didn't have that hesitation after blasting Monster Zero free from the ice. Madison couldn't stand it, running into the control room with no hesitation.

"Madi -  _pinche madre_  -" Elena muttered under her breath before following the girl in the room.

"Mom.  _Don't_."

Her mother was shaken, not expecting the sudden appearance.

"I'm sorry, did a child just tell you what to do?" the Controller sneered.

"Maybe dad's right, maybe this isn't -"

"By all means, Dr. Russell, let's reconsider our entire plan now. Especially after telling your friends all about it."

"Madison, we talked about this."

"About what? Using me -  _both_  of us," she looked over her shoulder at Elena. "As - As  _tools_?"

"Maddie, that's not -"

"No,  _you_  said we were doing this to help people. The least you can do is give them the chance to get to safety, plea -"

The Controller snapped, banging the top of a table with his hand so hard it echoed throughout the room.

"We don't have time for this," he said, voice low and impatient. "Did you think this would be easy? Painless?"

He sent her a malicious look, and Elena stepped in front of her.

"Is that what you told her?" he continued, directing his rage at her mother. "That she'd magically conjure some grand utopia? Man and monster living together in blissful harmony?"

He was right, but the condescension in his voice was more than she could handle.

"Bite me, dickhead." Madison growled.

The room was silent. The Controller's cold gaze bored into hers, but she refused to waver. Until she saw his hand reach for the handle of the gun in his pocket, then the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. Elena blocked her view of the Controller.

"Don't you  _dare_."

Sending her a glare, he relaxed. "If I were you," he said softly. "I would save that attitude for the monsters."

"And if I were you," her mother finally spoke up, fury just barely contained. "I'd learn how to talk to titans myself before doing something as stupid as threatening my daughter."

Elena took a step forward. "And I could just as easily sic that three-headed demon on anyone in this ship. Remember that."

She knew Elena was lying, but the fact she would even think about saying something like that made Madison feel better. Safer. The Controller was the most terrifying person she had ever met, but right now, there was nothing about her mother or Elena that suggested they could be screwed around with.

"Sir?" one of the men at the controls said. "They're attempting to lock us out. It's now or never."

"Emma." the Controller said. " _You_  came to  _us_. The ORCA would've been nothing but scraps without our technology. We needed each other to achieve our goals, but everything will fall apart if you don't see it through."

"Emma, think about what you're doing." Elena said softly.

"Ma'am? Our window is closing."

Madison saw her mother's hand tremble. Her hand hovered over the activation button for another moment before turning on the ORCA.

"I'm sorry," her mother said. "But this is bigger than just you and me."

Elena was shaking her head in disbelief. Madison felt nauseous.

"Signal's good. Patching us into the next containment site -"

"No." her mother said. "Not yet. We'll take it slow. One at a time." she looked at Madison as if that was supposed to be reassuring.

Feeling tears forming at the edge of her eyes, she fled the room. She'd rather drop dead than have the Controller see her cry.

Shortly after, she heard Elena's footsteps follow her.

_____

Jodie watched the evacuation unfold on the Argo's monitors.

G-Team was making quick work of filing all those civilians away in airlifts but there were hundreds left to go, and the crowd was in a panic. That only grew worse when the ground began to tremble, the volcano just outside the town rumbling in response.

The air was heavy with silence, everyone holding their breath as the ground groaned, the quaking growing stronger. Her heart sank further when the top of the volcano burst open, throwing up flames and black ash into the sky. A few seconds later, the noise arrived, like a thousand eagle cries amplified to a thousand.

Jodie had only heard about the bare minimum of this titan, only that it was bird-like, almost like a pterodactyl straight out of the Jurassic period. And amidst the smoldering haze that covered the mountain, a silhouette rose from the volcano and spread its wings. They were bigger than the Argo, and they looked like they were made from half-cooled lava.

As the smoke cleared, she could make out its figure. The titan had two crests spearing out from the back of its skull like two devilish horns and a beak sharper than any existing avian's on the planet. But that wasn't what caught her attention. It was on fire. Like a phoenix, shedding ash and lava, it reached for the sky. But it didn't fly. It seemed to be yawning, like the previous explosion was just an alarm clock waking it up from its thousand-year nap. Its yellow eyes warily scanned the horizon, zeroing in on the town below and the jets screaming past it.

Mark was terrified. "Got a catchy name for this one?"

"Local legends call it Rodan, el Demonio Fuego." Chen answered.

"The Fire Demon.." Jodie whispered under her breath.

"That's comforting." Mark muttered.

"I'm picking up the ORCA." Stanton said. "Looks like she's tapping into the base remotely."

"Record it," Mark said. "I need a sample."

Stanton gave him a thumbs up.

"Guys?" Coleman spoke up, a nervous lilt in his voice as his eyes were glued to a screen. "Remember that tropical storm where we lost Monster Zero? Well, it's changing direction. Guess where it's headed now."

Jodie looked at the tracker. Not only had its direction changed, but it was speeding up. And it was heading right for them. Shit.

"Th-That's not possible." Graham stuttered.

"Unless it's not a storm." Chen said.

"O-Oh, man." Coleman said, realization striking him.

"But the evacuation -" Jodie chimed in.

"They better hurry it up, because it's closing in fast." Stanton said.

If a fight broke out between the two titans here, the town would surely be wiped off the map. Then, she too had a realization.

"Serizawa," Jodie said. "Let Rodan go."

Stanton groaned. "Don't tell me Emma got to your head."

"Shut  _up_ , Rick, if Rodan stays here, so will Monster Zero. Then there won't be an island to come back to."

"She's right." Mark said, pointing to a radar image of the approaching storm. "I think that thing's responding to Big Bird's cries. That only means it's coming here for food, a fight, or to f - something more intimate."

"What are you suggesting?" Serizawa asked.

Outside, jets streaked past them, unloading missiles at Rodan. Jodie doubted they would do anything other than piss him off. But he definitely noticed them. His angered gaze searched the skies, dismissing the smaller aircraft whizzing by and focusing his glare on the Argo.

It had been Mark's idea to attempt to challenge Rodan, hoping that he would see the craft as an invasion of his territory. Surely, no self-respecting giant bird-thing would let something like that slide, could he?

"I think we got his attention." Jodie commented.

"Everyone strap in." Foster said. "All ships, follow our lead."

The Argo banked hard, jets following right behind them. Pissed, Rodan pushed himself free of his nest, spreading his wings and taking to the air - lava spilling from his form and onto the town below.

The chase was on.

It didn't take long for Rodan to catch up with the fleet, hell-bent on disposing of the threat to his domain. The Argo's jet escort tried to slow the titan's advance, but they were paying an awful price. As Jodie watched, Rodan snatched jets from the sky with his talons, sending them spiraling to the ocean below.

 _We don't have to outrun him forever_ , Jodie reassured herself.  _Just hang on a little longer._

Even that would be a challenge.

As she looked out one of the Argo's windows, she saw Rodan quickly gaining on them. He was still burning, trailing smoke and lava like a walking volcano. He really was a fire demon, carrying the blaze with him just as Godzilla had his blue radiation and Monster Zero with his golden lightning.

And speak of the devil, the storm that blotted out the horizon was rapidly approaching. The mass of copper-colored clouds, hearts burning with lightning, struck a deep feeling of dread within her.

 _If we don't make it out of here alive, I'm coming back and strangling you myself,_  Jodie thought, looking at Mark.

"Argo to Gold Squad, let's get this turkey away from the mainland and straight to Monster Zero - ETA two minutes." Stanton broadcast.

"Copy." the reply came back.

The jets doubled back and fired at Rodan. A few missiles hit him, but it didn't faze him much. With a flap of his wings, he lifted above the barrage of jets, clapping with such force that three of them were slapped out of the sky by the shock wave. The same beat of his wings propelled him straight up, like a blazing spear aimed at heaven. In the next second he came shrieking back down from a different angle, like a raptor swooping in on its prey, catching the jets completely off guard. Crushing two of them with his talons and biting one as it exploded, the wreckage spun down to the ocean.

"Two-two-three, on your six!" Foster shouted into her earpiece. "Get out of there!"

Jodie watched as the pilot ejected from the doomed jet. Only to be swallowed by Rodan, seat and all.

"ETA to Monster Zero, sixty seconds." Stanton announced, frantic.

Then, Rodan rolled, his flaming wings spinning through the air as if he were drilling a hole through the sky. It almost seemed to happen in slow motion as Jodie watched in horror as the titan's wings swatted jets out of his way like bugs. When Rodan finished his roll, Gold Squad no longer existed. One by one, the pilot feeds winked out until there were none. The Argo was alone.

"ETA to Monster Zero, thirty seconds!" Stanton shouted.

The Argo rattled as they raced into the hurricane, the sun vanishing as they became engulfed in Monster Zero's tempest. The aircraft shuddered as lightning struck on and around them.

For a moment, Jodie shut her eyes. Rodan had caught up with them. Looking out one of the Argo's windows, all she could see was his massive talons quickly encroaching on them.

 _Sorry, Gill_ , she thought.  _Guess my luck's run out_.

Lightning struck again, and right in front of them was a massive three-headed silhouette, appearing through the clouds. In that moment, Jodie was sure she would die. Behind them, Rodan veered away with a frightened screech, abandoning the Argo completely.

"Dive!" Foster commanded.

Jodie felt her insides caught in her throat as the ship lost altitude, dropping past Monster Zero as the two titans crashed into each other, their cries mixing into one angry scream. Claws and talons locking together as they dove into a free-fall, writhing and twisting, biting and clawing as if it was all they knew.

"Jesus, they're killing each other." Stanton commented.

"Better them than us." Mark said.

Thankfully, gravity returned as the Argo leveled out, scraping the surface of the water. The engines whirred as the pilot kicked them into high gear, trying to get as far from the battle as possible.

Jodie sighed in disbelief.

But the relief didn't last when the radio crackled with static, the voice of Chief Officer Barnes patching into the Argo's speakers.

"Mayday - come in, Argo, this is Raptor One, do you read?"

"Copy," Foster replied. "What's your status?"

"We're screwed, that's what. And we have civilians on board. We're gonna need immediate midair retrieval."

"Lock onto their position and prepare the hangar for emergency landing."

"Hangar doors are unresponsive." Stanton said.

"Manual override?"

"They're  _stuck_." he clarified.

"Which way to the hangar?" Mark asked impatiently, itching to be more useful than just expressing his glee at the thought of two titans murdering each other.

"I can show you," Jodie replied.

"Anyone else?"

"I know the way, come on." Coleman cut in. Jodie rolled her eyes, going back to observing the fight behind them.

Meanwhile, Rodan and Monster Zero were still going at it. As they fought their way across the sky, flames and lightning painted the clouds with their fury.

Monster Zero didn't look like a fan of competition, but it didn't seem as though the dragon was trying to kill Rodan so much as dominate him. This fight was much different than the one in Antarctica, and if this was any indication, the dragon was trying to build his strength for a bigger fight - a bigger challenger.

Hearing their cries just outside the Argo, Jodie was never more certain of Godzilla's place in the world. Thinking back to all those times Serizawa alluded to him as nature's balance, she found herself agreeing with him more and more. Monster Zero, however, was something else entirely. Though she hated placing such concepts on animals, Monster Zero  _radiated_  evil. She knew that the titans were simply a fact of life, had been long before humans were even a concept. A carnivore wasn't evil because it sought out living prey, that's just how the circle of life worked. But remembering Antarctica, how the dragon played with their prey, targeted  _her_  of all things, Jodie thought that maybe the mind of Monster Zero was capable of more than just simple instincts.

Just then, Monster Zero's right and left heads pinned Rodan in midair, stretching his wings to their limit. Although they had nearly been knocked out of the sky by him, it was hard to watch. He was completely helpless. His situation only worsened when the center head raised itself, considering the struggling titan with a cruel, apathetic gaze. He could do nothing as the dragon unleashed a beam of energy directly into his chest. Rodan, as fierce as he was, limply fell into the water below like a screeching ragdoll. And like that, the fight was over. Once more, Jodie could swear she saw spite in their faces as the monster turned their attention toward them.

Suddenly, the control panel beeped. Another call was coming in.

"It's Admiral Stenz." Stanton said.

Great, just what they needed. He had worked with Monarch in the past, but he refused to even make an attempt at understanding the titans. But more importantly, he was an instrument of the government, and that was never good.

Stenz was patched on screen, looking solemn.

"Admiral." Serizawa nodded.

He quickly cut to the chase. "Dr. Serizawa, Colonel Foster, I need you and the rest of your forces to immediately disengage and withdraw to a safe distance."

"I don't understand -" Foster started.

"Over the past five years, we've been developing a prototype for a new weapon," he said, looking more than a little weary. "Designated as Project O, we call it the Oxygen Destroyer, designed to exterminate all life forms within a two-mile radius."

Jodie's mouth hung limp in disbelief.

"With any luck it will kill these things and this nightmare will finally be over."

"Admiral," Serizawa said. "We  _must_  keep our faith in Gojira -"

"I'm sorry, doctor." Stenz said. "You had your chance."

"Admiral, there must be a -" Graham spoke before she was cut off.

"The missile is already on its way...may god have mercy on us all."

The screen went dark, and the bridge was silent.

"He's not lying," Stanton said, staring at a beeping radar. "It's coming in hot."

Outside the Argo, they had something else to look out for. Something much closer. Rising overhead, a familiar high-pitched roar trilled over the wind. Monster Zero was nearly on top of them, skimming low across the waves. On all three heads their teeth were bared in wicked grins. If the Oxygen Destroyer didn't reach them first, that thing definitely would.

 _Damn it_ , Jodie thought.

Taking a deep breath, waiting for impact, she braced herself. Only to hear the ocean below spray water into the air, lifting and smashing into the dragon. It wasn't a rogue wave, but a mountain-sized lizard. Godzilla.

Snatching the dragon in mid-flight and slamming them into the water, everyone on the bridge cheered to themselves. Jodie wanted to feel relieved, but she couldn't. Not with that man-made abomination heading straight for him.


	9. Long Live the King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> my name is ozymandias, king of kings; look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter comin in early since i won't be home starting tomorrow !! turns out i won't be back until TUESDAY so chapter 10 is getting delayed by a lil bit

By the time Mark and Coleman returned to the bridge, the Argo was already well away from the fight, which still raged with as much passion as it had back in Antarctica.

Only Godzilla was in his element now. That much was evident in how he wrestled with Monster Zero almost gracefully, rolling him like a crocodile, trying to keep all three shrieking heads underwater.

"Twenty seconds to impact." Stanton said, snapping Jodie out of her daze and reminding her of the awful reality.

"Impact?" Mark wondered.

"What did we miss?" Coleman asked.

In that moment, a draconic talon hurtled toward the Argo's main windshield, the tips of its claws scraping against the glass before Godzilla yanked Monster Zero back down. The craft pulled up, getting out of range as fast as possible.

"We're getting out of here." Stanton said.

"Military launched a weapon," Jodie said, trying not to sound hurt. "It's about to kill them both."

Mark glanced over at Serizawa, whose brow was deeply furrowed. Without a hint of sympathy in his voice, he spoke. "It's not the worst idea."

At that, she snapped. Fighting the g-force pushing against her bones and dragging her way over to him, she drew her arm back. He was barely turning around when her fist connected with his jaw.

Mark sucked in a breath, holding the side of his face as he stumbled backward in shock and pain. Jodie shook the pinpricks of numbness that dusted her knuckles before walking back to a seat, crossing her arms. The Argo was silent, her actions had said enough for all of them.

Outside, Godzilla was winning.

Monster Zero's internal light flickered in and out as Godzilla pulled them under again and again, their maws filling with water before they could even think about taking a breath. Godzilla had never looked stronger.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven," Stanton began counting down. For once, there wasn't a hint of his signature flippant sarcasm.

Jodie was trembling.

Through the tumult she saw Godzilla grab one of Monster Zero's necks, biting deeply until the head tore off completely. It was brutal, watching the dragon's stump shoot out a spray of black blood into the water around them. It would've looked like an oil spill if she didn't know any better.

"Three, two -"

A bright light passed through her peripheral vision, and that's when she knew the fight was over, regardless of who was winning. Both monsters were engulfed in light, its brightness expanding so far it nearly covered the whole island. Jodie sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, slamming her eyes shut. The resulting shock wave from the blast shook the Argo, and she felt the impact rattle her to her very core.

The world was silent, holding its breath as the flash mushroomed into the atmosphere with an awful whir, leaving a brilliant green cloud of death over the sea.

As the flash faded and the pall lifted, Jodie saw that the titans were no longer locked in battle. Through the camera feeds she saw them sink, thrashing about in the water like something gasping for air, reaching for something that wasn't there, fighting something their claws couldn't catch. Without a roar or a trill, they vanished beneath the waves. Jodie felt sick to her stomach, tasting bile in the back of her throat. She placed a hand on a window. In its reflection she saw everyone staring out there too. There were no words to describe the wave of grief that washed over everyone in the room, the heaviness of the needless sacrifice that had taken place. Even Mark was silent. Despite his previous attitude, he didn't look satisfied at all. Her eyes welled up with tears.

They had just made a big mistake. She could feel it.

Suddenly, the sea - that hadn't yet entirely settled from the fight - began to stir and foam. Bubbles broke the surface like the ocean was a boiling pot, and slowly, hundreds of silvery objects floated to the surface. Behind her, she heard Graham gasp. Looking closer to see what had shocked her, she brought a hand to her mouth. They were fish floating on the surface, completely lifeless.

But as if it couldn't get any worse, the bubbling increased before expanding into a spray. Monster Zero exploded from the darkened sea, their two heads trilling as they ascended into the air. With a sharp crack from their wings, they disappeared above the clouds. For a moment, Jodie feared they would turn their attention back to the Argo, but instead the dragon flew in the opposite direction - towards land. Maybe losing its head had hurt it after all.

"Jesus..." Coleman muttered, hands rubbing the back of his head as he stumbled to sit down.

Everything had quieted then, but everyone kept staring at the ocean. Especially Serizawa, as if he was expecting to see Godzilla spring back up at any second. He never did.

"Dr. Stanton," he finally spoke. "Can you locate Gojira?"

Stanton was quiet for a moment, scanning the water below. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Yeah, I've got something."

He turned up the volume, and through the speakers they heard the familiar thudding of the titan's heart. But it wasn't like before. It was weaker, less steady.

"His vitals are fading," Graham said looking at the scanner. "Radiation levels plummeting."

On the tracking screen, she could see that radioactive aura rapidly dwindling as the heartbeat on the speakers continued to weaken.  _Why was Monster Zero unaffected?_  Jodie thought, her grief mixing with anger.  _Why did Godzilla have to be the one to die?_

"Come on, big guy,  _fight it_." Stanton murmured, staring at the screen intently.

Godzilla's heart beat once more. Jodie held her breath. Then the aura on the screen faded, his heartbeat flatlining.

She waited for his heart to beat again. Hoping, praying that that deep thudding would fill the Argo. But that moment never came.

"He's gone." Stanton said, leaning back in his chair.

"No.." Graham whispered, hands trembling.

Graham placed a hand on Serizawa's shoulder, bringing the other up to her face to hide her slackjawed expression. Serizawa looked grief-stricken. He was shaking too, though he was doing a much better job at hiding it. Out of the corner of her eye Jodie saw him remove his glasses to wipe away a stray tear.

Everyone in the room looked broken, like they had just lost a loved one. And in a way, they had. No one in the room believed the titan could die. It just wasn't something that seemed possible for a creature as mythical as Godzilla. Even Mark found himself speechless,

"Looks like you got your wish, Mark." Serizawa said, his voice low and full of resentment. He went to sit at a desk and held his head in his hands.

"I hope you're happy." Jodie hissed.

_____

When Monster Zero flew off, the Controller was not far behind.

Cloaked from the Argo's tracking, they hovered just above the desolated town of Isla de Mara. There, the dragon perched on Rodan's flaming nest, rivers of lava spilling down its peak and plumes of thick smoke pouring past them. The monster was no longer simply taking Rodan's territory, he had claimed his seat of power. Like a usurper sitting on the old king's throne.

Once they settled on the volcano, they began writhing and screeching in pain, the two remaining heads clicking their jaws, snapping at the decapitated stump that still wriggled in the air like a dying snake.

But then Elena noticed something.

They weren't just squirming in agony, waiting for the third head to cease movement. They were encouraging it. Sickened at the scene, she saw something emerge from the stump. Like a hydra straight out of Greek myth, a slimy membrane pushed forth. The creature's tongue was the first thing to reform. It wriggled like a worm in the air, trying with all its might to break the transparent coating that covered the rest of itself. The center head reached over, taking the membrane between his teeth and ripping it off so that their fallen brother could keep forming. Embryonic juices spilled from the sac as the head continued to push itself from the stump. Tendons, muscles, bone, they sprouted at once like a gruesome flower, blooming into what was gradually looking like a skull. Nerves and flesh formed soon afterward, the sinews of his muscles sewing back together as his brothers continued to trill.

_You can do it._

_This pain is nothing._

Finally, the left head had completely regrown, blinking his newly formed eyes filled with just as much malice as the others. And as if to announce their victory, they outstretched a wing, opening their trio of razor-filled mouths and screamed at the heavens.

Shrouded in ash, lightning flashing all around them as they sat on their throne of fire, they truly looked like the devil itself. Monster Zero outstretched both wings at their full length, heads raising to the sky as their call continued to echo to the farthest reaches of the earth.

_This is just the beginning, dear Speaker._  
_I can't wait for you to watch our real work begin._

_I wouldn't get too cocky_ , she thought. Though she doubted they even cared to listen.

And they didn't. She could feel how invincible they felt, and in some sickening way it almost felt  _good_. It was a power she hadn't felt in a long time. And it scared her.

_If you cease resisting, perhaps we'll kill you last._

_Fuck off._

They continued to release their screams, calling out to something she couldn't see. And beneath them, the flying reptile - Rodan - returned to his nest. But instead of fighting with Monster Zero for breaching his territory, he simply landed at his feet, genuflecting for his new king.

"Sir?" the Controller turned at the sound of the Regulator. She was pointing to a series of monitors with a strange expression. She looked confused, afraid.

On monitor after monitor the same thing played out. Titans all across the world were emerging from their outposts, people scrambling in panic, fighting bravely, or dying among the chaos. They were far outmatched by the return of the sleeping gods. The Controller turned to Emma.

"What happened to 'one at a time'?" he said.

 _Did you really think it would be that simple? That's rich,_  the dragon's voice echoed in the back of Elena's mind, punctuated with laughter.

Emma shook her head, dumbfounded, a look of horror growing on her face. "I'm not the one doing this. The ORCA, its range doesn't  -  _can't_  - reach that far, not without help."

Immediately he turned his gaze to Elena. She stood her ground, unflinching as he marched towards her.

"I told you. If you really thought you could control them, and not the other way around, then you're no more of a fool than I am."

What looked like anger slowly faded to what looked like triumph. As if he wanted this to happen.

The Controller studied the screen as the monster continued to rally their subjects. With Godzilla gone, there was nothing that could stop them. He smiled coldly. "Out with the old, in with the new. Long live the king."

The Regulator said nothing, simply staring down at her feet.

Elena and Madison watched in disbelief. Unable to take any more of it, she walked out of the control room, standing just outside to collect her breath.

"You're a monster." Madison said to Emma just before following after her.

Madison couldn't begin to process what she had just seen, the amount of destruction that lay just outside, the death. She had felt him, just before that bomb hit. Madison felt Godzilla barreling his way through the ocean like his life depended on it, and he fought even harder. She was rooting for him, and secretly, so was Elena.

 _Don't worry, little Speaker_ , he said.  _I've beat his shiny ass before. I can do it again._

She had giggled at that, at how casual and strange it all was. She almost felt reassured. Safe. But in a split second, Madison could only hear silence. It felt like being gutted, like having all the wind knocked out of her lungs. She remembered screaming so loud her throat burned, nearly passing out from the shock had it not been for Elena talking her through it.

She had tried searching for his presence since Monster Zero took his throne. She was only met with an empty, fading space.

Her fists trembled in the pockets of her jacket. For years her mother had lied to her, how humans and titans could live in harmony. And she nearly thought she was right - Godzilla, Mothra, Kong - they had all proven themselves to be benevolent. It was possible.

But looking out there, at the aberration that sat atop the volcano like something out of Bald Mountain, all she saw was pure malevolence. There was no peaceful coexistence with that thing, not a chance.

"Madison, wait -!" her mother called after her.

She ignored her, following Elena back to the dorms. She didn't want to talk, least of all with her.

"Listen -"

"Get away from me." she shot back.

"...I know things haven't exactly gone according to plan, but I can fix this."

"According to plan?" she wanted to laugh. "Did it involve killing all those people? You said you were gonna be careful, that you'd release them one at a time, that we'd restore balance -"

"And we are."

"Really? By teaming up with homicidal aliens and trying to use us like your ORCA?" Elena chimed in.

"It was that or let the titans die, I didn't have a choice -"

"There's always a choice!" Madison yelled. "You know who taught me that? Dad."

Her mother blinked, her mouth opening slightly but not saying a word.

"You said he left us, that he was a drunk who didn't care."

"Because he  _did_  leave us. Someone had to be strong for you and it sure as hell wasn't gonna be him. Did you think he'd ever understand who you really are? What you can do? He gave up on you, on both of us."

" _No_ ," Madison shouted. "You're the one who gave up. You gave up on everything - on  _humanity_." She shook her head, trying to get the tears to retreat back into her eyes.

"And you used me to do it. You wanted me to wake up that thing, to put it in my head!" her voice started to crack.

"Madison -" her mother tried to interrupt. But she wasn't having any of it.

"And if dad's such an asshole why'd he come back? Why's he trying to help people while we're here letting them die?"

"We  _are_  helping people, Maddie -"

"Bullshit!" she said, not waiting for a reply before storming down the hall to god-knows-where.

Elena stayed behind. "You said you were doing this for your son,"

Emma turned to her.

"Do you really think he would've wanted this?"

"You don't know a thing about our family." she said in a low whisper. But something in her eyes changed, she wasn't hurt or offended. It was deeper than that.

"But I know that this isn't right." Elena said, following after the woman as she searched for her daughter.

"I  _know_  that this is for the greater good." she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she stopped in the middle of the hall. "You wouldn't understand."

"And you do? Emma, this isn't -"

"I just wanted to ensure my daughter has a future!" she snapped. "And if I didn't do this then none of us would have one."

Frustrated, she stormed back to the control room. Elena stayed there for a moment, eventually decided to journey deeper down the hall.

_____

Madison wasn't sure what room she ended up in - they all looked the same to her - but regardless she shut the door behind her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to  _break_  something - to wrap her hands around whatever she could find and hurl it at a wall. But she took deep breaths, just like Elena told her to. The whole world was breaking, she didn't want to contribute to that.

Instead she slid to the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs. After her brother's death, after the divorce, she and her mother had forged a new life together. For years she thought the bond between them was unbreakable, but after Antarctica, it was clear that her connection to her father had stayed as strong as ever. Maybe it was easier to forgive someone you didn't see every day, to idealize them in your head. You didn't have to deal with the little every day arguments about who would wash the dishes or do laundry. But it was more than that.

Madison knew that Andrew's death had wounded them both in ways she couldn't comprehend, and that alone was enough to drive them apart. Her mother's grief had pushed her toward Godzilla's goal, while her father hadn't been so understanding. It had taken time, but even Madison had come to understand that the titan hadn't meant to kill her brother. His universe, his goals existed at a much higher level than that of the individual human being. He was just trying to keep the balance. And now more than ever she was sure that there was no outright malice behind the lizard's golden amber eyes.

But as much as she found herself agreeing, none of it could excuse what her mother had started. What was worse in her mind was that she had gone along with her mother's plan for years, and she could've easily stopped it too. If only she had told someone - Serizawa, Graham, Gill, hell even her dad. But she didn't. She had put her faith in someone that had done nothing but throw it away. There had to be a way for her to fix it somehow.

At that moment, the door shifted open and she braced herself for another round of shouting - only to find Elena gingerly peeking inside.

"..Where's mom?"

"Down the hall." she entered the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"Oh."

She sat down next to her. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything,  _all_  of it. You don't deserve to be put through this. No one does."

Madison was quiet. "It's sorta my fault anyway. I should've told someone, I should've -"

"Madison."

She looked up at her, sighing into her knees as she pulled them closer.

Looking around the room, Elena found that she was in something similar to the control room, but much smaller. Like a personal office. It had an array of similar instruments in the center of the room, and she recognized some of them from the few times she had seen people fiddle with them. Walking up to the control panel, she pressed a button, turning on a screen that flashed words in a language she had never seen before. Furrowing her brows, she followed her gut and pressed another.

This time, voices filled the room. She nearly jumped out of her skin before realizing that it was an intercom. The voices became clearer, and she found that she recognized them. The Controller and the Regulator in the midst of a discussion. Madison sat up and began to listen as well.

"Sir, I was informed that this was to be an extraction for the Golden Demise, not..." she whispered under her breath. Elena could barely make sense of what she was saying but she didn't sound happy.

"With every situation, plans change accordingly." he said in a noncommittal tone. "I simply hadn't seen the bigger picture until now. With the assets, we could've only hoped to subdue and capture two titans at a time. But with the ORCA, why stop there?"

Elena shut the feed off, frightened. So that was their plan. Was Emma in on it too? She seemed awfully surprised at the result of Monster Zero claiming the title as alpha, but then again, she was an impeccable liar. Madison felt a headache forming, confusion clouding her mind.

If only there was a way to warn someone. It wasn't too late, was it?

Madison reached a hand out on the console. If it could receive messages within the ship, maybe it could send one out. It'd take a lucky guess, though. Wishing her intuition was right, she pressed another button.

A static-y feedback sounded from the panel. The two listened intently.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked.

"Hold on," Madison said, scrolling through the screen and pressing another button. The same sound was there, but there was a slight difference. This time, bits of what might be voices went in and out of the static. She leaned close to the panel.

"Hello?" she said experimentally.

Nothing. She scrolled again, pressing on another random set of what she assumed to be coordinates.

"Is anyone there? I'm trying to reach..." she looked over at Elena for support. "I'm trying to reach Monarch."

After another moment of silence, a voice broke through the static. "Mayday, mayday! We need hel - Everything is burning - Please - nyone there -"

Horrified, she backed away. Elena quickly switched it off. There had to be some other way, there  _had_  to. It couldn't end here. Not if she had anything to say about it.

But how? Her connection to Godzilla was gone, and despite telling herself he had managed to get away from the fight, she suspected he was gone too. She shut her eyes, trying to focus on that connection.

 _Please_ , she thought.  _We still need you, I can't do this alone._

There was still only the void.

She wanted to sob.

But as she felt heavy tears gather at the corners of her eyes, there was a light in the darkness. A breeze of warmth washed over her and for the briefest of moments, Madison felt alright.

_I've been waiting, young Speaker._

It was a voice she hadn't heard before, but hearing it felt like standing in sunlight. A tear  _did_  roll down her face, even though she didn't realize it.

"Madison?" she heard Elena ask. But she sounded muffled, far away.

"It's going to be okay." Madison whispered. But she didn't remember how those words appeared in her mind or came out of her mouth.

In that same moment, the door opened, revealing the Regulator looking standing in the doorway. She froze, debating whether or not to rat them out or..something. She was incredibly hard to read sometimes. But lately, she had seemed a little more emotional than when they had first met. Elena defensively pulled Madison up from the floor, pushing her behind her. The Regulator took a cautious step forward.

"It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you."

_____

Jodie was exhausted.

She had felt so much in such a short span of time, she found herself becoming increasingly numb. Everyone else on the Argo wasn't faring any better.

Serizawa and Graham were with Coleman, and she had no doubt they were ripping the higher-ups a new one. Foster and the G-Team were in the lower decks with the civilians from Isla de Mara. Jodie had just come back to the main control room after a long, emotionally draining call from Gill. She hated to be the one to break the news about the big guy to her, but at the same time she felt that she had to be the one to do it. Besides that, she finally found the time to comb through a backlog of over a 100 emails and news updates that she was given over the past day or two. It was chaos. As expected, word of titans escaping had broken out across the globe. And people were  _angry_. As if there weren't enough anti-titan rallies in the past five years, it was only going to get worse if things kept going the way they were. And Jodie felt that it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

As she walked onto the bridge, she found Mark and Chen were still deeply engrossed in their work. Mark - who was too busy listening and dissecting Stanton's ORCA recordings - didn't regard her. There was an angry-looking bruise forming along his jaw. Chen - who seemed to be pouring over more historical texts and other mythological artifacts - gave her a nod.

"We're due to land in about ten minutes. Any luck?" Jodie asked.

"No." he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Whatever Emma used to create the signal - I've never heard it before. This is way different than that backyard science project of ours, it's like something else entirely."

She looked over at Chen's console, and sure enough, there were countless ancient texts, murals, and inscriptions on the screen. Jodie could hardly make sense of it all.

"How're you holding up?"

" _Shénhuà shì wǒmen de zhǐnánzhēn_."

"How's that?" Mark cut in.

"Myth is our compass, something my mom used to say. She believed our stories about monsters could help us find the titans and restore our connection to nature. It's been on my mind lately."

"Your mother?" he said. "You're second-generation Monarch?"

"Third," she corrected. "It runs in the family."

With a proud smile, she pulled up photos of her family. One photo showed what must be her grandmother and great aunt on a Monarch expedition, kneeling in front of what looked like an excavated titan fossil. In the bottom left corner it read 'Infant Island - 1961'. And then another, with her mother and her aunt standing in front of a mural depicting a giant moth. The last showed all of them together, this time including Chen and her own sister - Dr. Ling. Standing in front of them were Chen's identical twin daughters. It was more than a little strange.

"Whoa.." Jodie mused.

"Don't suppose your family has any tips on slaying dragons?"

"Slaying dragons is a western concept," she answered matter-of-factly. "In the east, they are sacred. Divine creatures that brought wisdom, strength, and even redemption."

Mark was silent after that, almost like he was thinking over what she said. But the silence didn't last long as the rest of the team returned to the bridge. Serizawa and Graham were both pouring over their notes while G-Team bantered back and forth with Coleman and Stanton.

"I don't get it," Foster said. "This Oxygen Destroyer, why wasn't Monster Zero affected?"

"I mean, I'm no scientist but maybe it's got something to do with his goddamn  _head_  growing back." Barnes said.

"I've never seen anything like this," Graham said. "It violates everything we know about the natural order."

"Unless he's not part of the natural order." Chen said.

All eyes turned toward her.

"What do you mean?" Serizawa asked.

"I was able to piece this together." she turned around to her desk, pulling up a series of files. Opening one, a cave painting appeared on the main screen. It depicted a three-headed dragon surrounded by flames, like some sort of comet.

"Well he looks vaguely familiar." Coleman said.

"It tells of the great dragon who fell from the stars - a hydra whose storms swallowed both man  _and_  gods alike."

"Are you saying he's an alien?" Jodie asked, finding herself weirdly fascinated.

"Yes." she said without an ounce of irony. "He's not part of our natural order. And he's not meant to be here."

"A false king." Serizawa said, eyes trained on a glyph showing what looked like Godzilla and the alien fighting. Only the lizard wasn't alone. He had help from above in the form of winged beings. And below, humans were fighting alongside him, tiny though they were.

"An invasive species." Graham mused.

"If he's of extraterrestrial origin it could explain the storms and the effect he's having on the other titans. Almost as if he's reshaping the planet to his own liking." Graham said.

"These legends," Serizawa started. "What did they call him?"

"The One Who is Many, the Death Song of Three Storms, the Golden Demise...." Chen answered. "Ghidorah."

"Ghi - what? Gheedra?" Mark stuttered.

"I think she said gonorrhea." Coleman murmured.

" _Ghidorah_." Chen insisted.

Jodie shook her head, hiding a giggle.

"Dr. Serizawa?" Griffin interrupted. "We're approaching Castle Bravo, but, there's something you should see."

Immediately, everyone turned their attention out of the main window. Outside, rain was coming down in sheets, but they could clearly see what the pilot was talking about. The facility was surrounded by military vessels and helicopters. A whole fleet of them.

"Oh no." Jodie said under her breath.

"I'm guessing you weren't expecting these guys." Mark noted.


	10. The Mass Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thus saith the lord, behold; i will bring evil upon them, which they cannot escape; and though they shall cry unto me, i will not hearken unto them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back!! with an extra long chapter lmao (and i tried to fit as much as i could without this chapter becoming a novel in and of itself ;v; ); anyway this is more of an interlude than an actual chapter but id pay attention to certain sections in this one, they're important (and kudos to the ones that are gonna get it i hope i executed it well enough jsgksf)

Sedona, Arizona - Monarch Outpost 55 - Titanus Scylla

Alan drove down the winding road through the canyon that lead to the oil fields, admiring the view as he always did.

For forty years, he'd been taking this same drive, and for forty years he still found something to love about it. He remembered his father bringing him here, telling him that the canyon's stone, carved by mother nature's hands herself, had existed since the Permian period. And he remembered taking  _his_  kids, playing in one of the nearby creeks and looking for fossilized shells from a land lost to time. Alan has always been a paleontologist at heart, but that wasn't as reliable a job as working at the pipeline.

When he reached the field, pulling his truck around the small metal shed that passed for an office, he stepped out into the Arizona heat. He stood there for a moment, fingers hooked in the belt loops of his coveralls as he watched the rig's pumpjacks bobbing up and down like the drinking bird toy he had as a kid. They were, of course, drinking oil rather than water - or as his daughter Lucy liked to put it, "sucking the earth's blood".

There were other workers around, and about half a mile away he saw the government guys that hung around the area running around like chickens without heads. He squinted, they weren't usually this busy. A couple years back, they had taken some land near the fields, the reason being some sort of bio-hazard. It didn't matter to him, just so long as they didn't interfere with his work.

"Hey, Alan." Sawyer said, sticking his head out of the shed.

He nodded, clocking in.

"You get my text?" he asked.

"No, why?" Alan asked, pulling his phone out.

"It's your seismograph. Was goin' nuts not too long ago." he led him inside.

"Huh.." Alan hummed to himself. That thing was something he had helped his son, Evan, build nearly thirty years ago. It was mostly for fun, as his son had a knack for that sort of thing. Looking at it now, Sawyer was right. The usually flat line was now a mess of scribbles, as if there had just been an earthquake. As he watched, waves continuing to spike, he felt a rumble beneath his feet. The shed had also begun to rattle.

"You think it's one of the rigs?"

"I dunno, but I don't like it."

Alan stepped outside, looking at the field with a more critical gaze.

"I don't -"

The ground beneath him exploded, and something long and dark jutted out of it, arching over like a giant hook. He stepped back inside so hard he banged his arm against the door.

"Holy mother of.." Sawyer's voice trailed off.

Outside, more of those things were sticking up, jamming into the ground. Jointed, covered in bristle-like hairs the size of the shed, the earth jumped as the thing lifted itself up. With a metallic groan, the pumpjacks slid into the hole it left.

It.

He was barely aware that he and Sawyer were about twenty feet away from the pit it was pulling itself out of. He felt paralyzed, his mind overwhelmed by a primal fear, an instinct coded deep within the brains of his ancestors when they were still prey to things like this. The giant spider legs rose hundreds of feet in the air, holding a bulbous body and a face full of squirming tentacles that hung below a pair of emotionless eyes. It was like a cuttlefish on stilts.

 _Lucy, Evan_ , he thought, picturing their faces.

"The goddamndest thing." Sawyer said in breathless disbelief.

It was the last thing he ever heard.  
  
  


Munich, Germany - Monarch Outpost 67 - Titanus Methuselah

The cork sprung from the bottle with a loud pop, sailing across the meadow with the breeze.

"Don't litter, Hugo." Mila said, not looking away from her canvas.

He ignored her complaint as he took out various snacks from the cooler.

"It's biodegradable."

"Right," she said, looking at the mountain range ahead of her before going back and mixing more colors onto her palette. "Still littering."

With a roll of his eyes he poured the drink into two plastic cups, handing her one. Narrowing her eyes, she took it, taking a sip.

"This was where I grew up, you know." she said, pointing her paintbrush beyond the canvas. "See that mountain there?"

He didn't question the sudden change in subject, so instead he played along, glancing over at the mountain rising above the trees. The same one she was painting.

"What about it?" he asked, popping a cheese square into his mouth.

"My grandfather told me it wasn't always there, that there was a village instead. It was pretty average, you know,  _quaint_. But," she stopped to take another sip of her drink. "They 'wasted the land', he'd say. That the river that ran through town and just down over there," she nodded to the clear blue stream that trickled not to far behind them. "Had turned brown, murky. You know why?"

Hugo chuckled, knowing where this was going. "Maybe. And what happened to this town?"

"No one knows. He says one day the village was gone, and that mountain was there."

"I see," he said, still waiting for the punchline. "How long ago was this?"

She shrugged. "Middle ages, maybe."

"Your grandfather must have been very old."

"My family's been here for centuries." she said, continuing with her painting. "But do you want to know one other thing about the legend?"

He leaned closer, listening halfheartedly.

"That anyone who litters will be gobbled up by the mountain troll that lives on its peak."

He rolled his eyes, taking a swig from his cup. She chucked to herself.

"Of course it was just some bedtime story made to scare me. But," she paused, staring at the mountain with an odd expression. "There were times when I could swear I heard something from that mountain. Like something sleeping."

Hugo said nothing, and neither did she as she knelt down and took a strawberry from the array of food placed on the picnic blanket he sat on.

"Probably just my imagination." she said.

Slowly, his eyes wandered past her, past her canvas, and somewhere behind her. She tilted her head to the side as she saw his eyes widen.

"Are you alright?"

"Th-The - The mountain.." he pointed a shaky finger over her shoulder. She crossed her arms.

"So you're mocking me now?"

"N-No, the mountain, it -" he didn't finish his thought before he shot up from his seat, a scream gradually growing in volume leaving his mouth as he ran back down the trail they came from. It was so sudden it left her uneasy.

"Aren't you taking this a little too far?" she called after him.

But then she felt the earth shift below her.

Turning around, she saw that the mountain was now standing up on four thick legs. It had a stout face like a bulldog but jutting from its head were a pair of horns like a bull. And as she watched, it put one lumbering limb forward, and then another. The patch of forest that sprouted from its rocky back shivered with each step.

Mila didn't scream, but her heart was beating in her ears just as loudly. The thing was about a kilometer away at least, but she doubted it would notice her even if she tried drawing its attention.

Instead, she took one long chug from the champagne bottle and kept painting until the creature was out of sight.  
  


Tingua Preserve, Brazil - Monarch Outpost 58 - Titanus Behemoth

The woman crawled through the hatch and into an access tunnel. Every alarm in the facility was blaring, and everyone was running for their lives.

Behemoth was awake.

He had been sleeping deep in a cave in the Tingua preserve not far from Rio de Janeiro. After the containment was set up, she had volunteered to stay on the team that oversaw the facility. It was an alright job. Behemoth was, to her, one of the more interesting titans. And when she could find the free time, Rio and its beaches were less than an hour away. Her job payed decently, she'd made some good friends, by all accounts the future looked bright.

But now, everything was changing.

She reached her destination, a panel on the wall of the tunnel. She did her job quickly, then continued down the tunnel, opened another panel, and dropped down into the room beyond. Mounted high in the cave, the room jutted out of the wall. And it was mostly transparent, giving her a good view of the titan below.

His legs were folded under him, his tusks curving above him. As she watched, he struggled against the containment field, trying to stand up. He looked like he was in pain.

"Sabine? Why didn't you just use the door?"

She turned and found of the techs - Erik - staring at her, his eyes full of bewilderment.

"I was checking the wiring in the access tunnel." she said. "The meter downstairs showed some resistance. It looked okay up here, though."

"You could've asked me."

"Yeah," she said, staring down at the titan. "But I wanted the view."

"Are you nuts? He's trying to break out like the others."

"I know." she said, voice void of emotion. "So what are you still up here for?"

"Backup. Dr. Singh has us on standby to use the kill switch."

Behemoth roared, almost as if he could hear and subsequently understand their conversation. The titan pushed up hard, swinging his head through the containment field and shredding the equipment that powered it with his tusks. The field vanished, and the floodlights overhead snapped on. Toward the front of the cave, dozens of security guards took their positions.

"Erik?" the voice came from the intercom. It was Dr. Singh.

"Yeah?"

"We've had negative results here, we're not sure why. Go ahead and enable the kill switch."

"Will do, doctor." he said, punching in a code and flipping up the cover. "Enabled."

After a short bout of silence, the doctor's voice rang out. "Do it."

Erik reached out flipped the switch. Nothing happened. He flipped it back, and then again. And again.

"N-Nothing's happening," he reported, trying not to sound nervous. He checked the diagnostics.

"There's no power!"

"No...there isn't." the Sleeper said.

Erik looked at her, eyes wide, then glanced at the hatch to the access tunnel. His confusion turned to anger. "You were in there, you cut the line to the kill switch - y-you  _traitor_."

"Please, I was never with Monarch."

"Oh my god," he said, voice dropping to a whisper. "You're - You're one of -"

"Look at him!" she nodded toward Behemoth. "You think you have the right to just kill a god? He was here long before you were. You've seen the cave paintings of him in here. They're thousands of years old, and that's just after your people  _got_  here. This place's indigenous groups still have a name for him, you know - Mapinguary. You heard Dr. Russell. You have to let him go."

"You're insane - how long have you been working with her?"

"That's not something you need to know. If anything, you should be grateful. This planet's seas are dying, rainforests nearly gone,  _thousands_  of species exterminated. I'm only trying to help."

"You've killed us all." Erik said.

"..Maybe."

Below, Behemoth rose to his full height. Or at least his full height on four legs, as there was a running bet on the base about whether he could go bipedal or not. The Sleeper was in the "yes" camp. His tusks and shaggy hair made him look superficially like a mammoth, but he was really built more like a giant ground sloth. His limbs were longer in the front than they were in the back, and he rested on the knuckles of his paws with thick, sharp claws. The only way he could use those claws was to stand up on his stubbier hind limbs.

Behemoth leaned back, and his forelimbs came up from the floor. His tusks scraped across the ceiling, and the entire cave shook. He swatted at the soldiers firing rounds of bullets at his hide with his claws. It almost looked funny from a distance, like he was knocking over toy soldiers. She felt a little twinge of sympathy, but this was how it had to be. If the Controller asked her of this, then it had to be done.

"I was right." she said.

"About what?"

"Bipedal."

With a puzzled, fearful look, he climbed into the crawlspace she came from. It didn't matter. There was no way he could fix it, not in time at least.

Suddenly, a blue-white flame spilled toward him. As Behemoth turned away from the gunfire, the titan screamed. He was facing her now, and she could see his eyes. The eyes of a god. An angry god, whose sanctuary had been invaded, defiled.

The same fire spewed at him again, but this time she saw where it came from: a nozzle protruding from the ceiling. The Sleeper hummed to herself. She hadn't known about that. Behemoth saw it too, roaring as he lunged forward.

"Come on," she whispered. "You know what to do."

The ceiling of the cave was high, but as he stretched to his full height, his face was just a few feet away when his tusks smashed into the ceiling. Huge chunks of stone tore loose, followed by an explosion as the reservoir of napalm spilled to the floor.

"Sleeper to X Base, requesting immediate extraction." she spoke into a device she pulled from her pocket.

Behemoth turned back toward the cave's entrance, covered in flames. But the fire seemed to find no purchase on his fur, and soon enough it burned itself out. He didn't look hurt at all. The cave, however, was filling with fire, and debris from the ceiling were still falling. The observation room shook, wobbled and tore loose from the cave wall.

The Sleeper had one last sight of Behemoth, crashing through the barriers at the cave entrance.  
  


Loch Ness, Scotland - Monarch Outpost 49 - Titanus Leviathan

Dr. Noe paced back and forth within the control room.

The Monarch alerts had just began pouring in, and at this point everyone was on edge. Everyone, it seemed, except for Dr. Reid. She sat comfortably at her desk, lukewarm mug of coffee in hand as she stared at her screen through a pair of a large glasses. He had no idea how she could remain so calm in such a dire situation, knowing that hundreds of fellow operatives were falling at the hands of titans - and possibly even terrorists. He looked over her shoulder at the screen, eyes darting between the fluctuating bioacoustics and the murky water just outside the room.

"Relax, even if the containment field fails we still have the blockade." Dr. Reid reassured him, leaning back in her chair as she took a swig of coffee.

"And where does that leave us? We wouldn't have the time to evacuate if she decides to attack the base once she's figured out she can't escape." he said, nervously running a hand through his short, black hair.

The outpost sat a couple kilometers underwater, situated on the side of a submerged rocky outcropping on one of the lake's cliffsides. Nothing much happened around there, as Leviathan (or "Nessie" as the world had unknowingly dubbed her) was usually dormant, unbothered by the traffic the lake saw each year. Which made Noe's job much easier on his overly cautious nature. His colleague, however, wasn't so concerned.

"She won't, she barely even notices us. Why would she think of attacking this place?"

"I..I guess you got a point."

"Besides, it's her getting out that we should be concerned with, and even then we got a backup plan for the backup plan."

"I dunno," he mused. "The lake's far from shallow, and the level of radiation at its deepest point is a little suspect."

She let out a tired chuckle. " _God_ , have you been talking to Rick again?"

"Wh - No! I'm just saying we can never be too careful."

He was a little hesitant to admit that he did, in fact, somewhat buy into the hollow earth theory. Or at least Dr. Brooks' vision of it. It wouldn't be  _too_  out there. He was in charge of looking after the goddamn Loch Ness Monster after all. At this point he was ready to believe just about anything.

"Uh oh." Reid said in a steady tone, hiking her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose.

"'Uh oh' - what do you mean ' _uh oh_ '?"

She gestured to the screen with her mug.

"Looks like 'ol Nessie isn't taking to the field so well."

Looking at the security feeds, Noe could barely make anything out - a long, paddle-shaped tail whipping about, kicking up mounds of lake muck into the water around her as she thrashed within the field, maybe a plesiosaur-like fin or two.

"What's got her all worked up? She was fine just a second ago." he said, getting increasingly nervous.

Reid shushed him, turning up the volume on the bioacoustic feed. The room quieted, only the sound of Leviathan's rapid heartbeat thudding through the walls. And something else.

"What is that?"

"Not sure. But it's not Leviathan."

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to search for the source of the sound as the titan continued to struggle within the field.

"Uhhh, Reid?"

"What." she replied impatiently.

Hearing no answer, her eyes flicked up from the screen. "Spit it out, I don't have -"

Noe was pointing at something beyond the window, eyes wide. Looking up from her post, she saw that the struggling had stopped. As the dirtied water settled, she could see that the containment field was now empty.

"What the h -"

Noe let out a surprised shriek when a massive fin leisurely passed in front of the window. Leviathan made another pass at the base, her long neck bending as she peered inside with an indescribable expression. Slowly, he backed away from the glass. Reid was paralyzed at her desk. The titan let out a throaty grumble before turning away from the base with the flick of her tail. The tail made contact with the room, shaking it so roughly the lights flickered for a moment. But somehow they remained unscathed.

"Reid.." he gulped. "Blockades."

"Got it."

Across the lake, massive steel doors closed, damming off the lake from the sea. Leviathan wasn't going anywhere.

"How is she?"

"Looks like she's on the move, but..she's not trying to leave."

"Th - That's good, right?"

"Hold on, I'm picking something else up. Sending a probe."

Both of their eyes were trained on the drone's feed as it cut through murky clouds the titan had left, the floodlights illuminating the dark water. It was slow-moving, and Noe didn't doubt that they had long lost Leviathan's trail.

"Anything?"

"I'm still getting her radiation signature. Bioacoustics too but she's on edge. Like she's looking for something."

After what felt like forever, the probe came across a sudden dive in the lake floor. The radiation readings spiked. Reid raised her brows.

"Well," she said, taking a sip of her - now cold - coffee. "That's new."

"What is?"

"Was that cavity always like that?"

Soon enough, Noe could see what she was referring to. They had followed Leviathan to the deepest part of the lake, where the radiation was far more prominent anywhere else. But this was different. It was an underwater tunnel, going down - much,  _much_  deeper than anything their scanners had picked up. It was almost like something had carved it out themselves. Reid led the probe through the pathway, jolting when its speed increased as something like a vacuum pulled it under.

"Jesus -!"

"Damn, guess I owe Stanton those twenty bucks."

Noe gave her a puzzled look before realizing what she was talking about. The screen in front of them was showing a sudden increase in O2, and CO2 - an air pocket.

"You're kidding."

An incredulous smile grew on Reid's face as the probe's camera was picking up a dim, yellow-orange light. But the closer it got to the source, more static appeared on the feed.

"Shit, radiation's already taking affect."

"Can you get closer?"

"Dunno. I can try." she said with a shrug.

As the probe's camera breached the surface of the water, the floodlights barely illuminated what looked like a large cave. And on its shore was Leviathan, slowly turning to face the small probe that bobbed on the water's surface. Noe felt a chill down his spine.

The titan bared her teeth in a snarl, and in one swift movement Leviathan's tail whipped toward the probe, and with that the feed cut off.

"Aaand she's gone." Reid drawled.

After a long bout of stunned silence, Noe began pacing again. About a million thoughts were running through his mind but only one managed to make it past his mouth.

"What the hell are we gonna tell Castle Bravo?!"  
  


Indian Ocean - Monarch Outpost 25 - Titanus Kraken

In his office beneath the sea, Dr. Ikande lay on his cot and watched the surface of the water ripple above him.

He had tried to take a nap - he hadn't slept in nearly a day - but sleep eluded him. He was too troubled. With the extremist attack in Yunnan to Dr. Russell's betrayal, it was too much to process. He knew her, his grad school dissertation had been based on some of her early work. He even had the privilege to meet her at a conference. It was there she recruited him for Monarch. And the fact that she had snapped like that was almost too hard to believe. Two titans were already on the loose because of her, and the running rumor was that she would try to release more.

He silently thanked himself that this underwater containment facility was probably one of the safest, simply from how far away it was from land. Anything that approached it would be noticed with ease. But that hadn't stopped him from worrying, of course.

He let the nap go, might as well get back to work.

He made his way out of the habitable part of the base - the living quarters, the control room, the labs - which were all relatively close to the surface. He kept walking until he came to an elevator - the one that took you straight down to the observatory, to Kraken.

They had discovered the sleeping titan on a seamount in relatively shallow water, curled around the remains of a nuclear sub that had been missing for decades. Monarch had ended up building the facility around him, but he was in such a deep hibernation he didn't seem to notice it at all. In the time since then they had learned quite a bit about him. Numerous x-rays, DNA analysis, and sonar scans had built a picture of what he must be like. His central brain was huge, far larger than it needed to be to control his body. And he had dozens of smaller brains associated with his limbs. Along with that, he had multiple hearts. There was no doubt in Ikande's mind that the creature held a certain amount of intelligence, possibly enough to rival a cephalopod's. Or a human's.

But unlike his octopoid cousins, his head was protected by a dense, curving shell not unlike a nautilus'. And his camouflage abilities were far superior to any of his smaller relatives. DNA suggested he could also change the color, pattern - even texture - of his skin and shell. When they found him he was nearly invisible, only being able to pinpoint his location by his radiation signature and bioacoustic emissions. But one of his more fascinating features - at least, in his opinion - was his ability to regenerate limbs, or virtually any part of his body.

As the elevator came to a stop, Ikande stepped out. One of the techs, Dr. Harris, looked up from her post and gave him a wave. Otherwise, the lab was empty.

He walked up to the window, and just outside lay one of Kraken's eyes. It was closed, and they had been closed for god know's how long. Dr. Jin, their resident paleobiologist, theorized he was in the middle of a sleep cycle that might last another decade at least. Unless he was threatened, of course.

They had taken great care to make him as comfortable as possible.

"Anything new?" he asked.

Harris shook her head. "Same as always. Bodily functions are normal, but at fairly low levels. How's topside? Any more titans on the run?"

"If there has, we haven't been informed. I almost feel slighted, why wouldn't our friend here be invited to the party?"

"Don't even say that." she replied, frowning. She leaned closer to the screen in front of her.

"What?"

"Nothing, I guess." she shrugged. "There was a little spike, but it went right back down."

Suddenly, the com light blinked on. He answered it.

"Ikande here."

"Doc? It's Teresa. We just got a flood of reports, titans have been released in at least four other outposts. Simultaneously."

"Released? By who, those extremists?"

"It's unclear. Things are kinda chaotic at the moment."

"'Course they are." he muttered, looking back at Harris, whose brows were deeply furrowed in confusion. "What is it, is he waking up?" he demanded.

If he was, at least the containment field still functioned. At least it was supposed to, there was no way to be certain, really. As much as it hurt him, their best bet was to use the kill switch. He was determined it wouldn't come to that.

"No, the opposite." she said. "His hearts are shutting down...he's dying."

"What - why?"

"No idea. It's like he's having an allergic reaction or something. Everything's dropping off, even his radiation signature."

Ikande stared at Kraken's lidded eye, trying to decide how he felt. The titan was put under  _his_  charge, and he had failed it. He knew how many Monarch scientists - Serizawa, Emma, Chen - felt about them. And even now he felt a twinge of sympathy for them. But on the other hand, if he died naturally, he wouldn't have to pull the kill switch.

"I..I don't understand." Harris whispered as she continued to watch the titan's vitals plummet.

"Call it in," he said. "Tell Castle Bravo we'll be sending them our data. Maybe whatever happened to -"

His mind stopped, voice catching in his throat. Kraken's eye was open, and it was staring right at him.

"Harris.." he said slowly. "Turn on the containment field."

"D-Done." she said. "But doc, I'm still getting nothing. All our scanners, they say he's  _dead_."

"His eye just opened!"

"Maybe some postmortem reaction -" but then her voice broke off too.

One of Kraken's tentacles was suddenly right at the glass, pushing against the containment field - no, pushing  _through_  it. Effortlessly.

" _Harris_.." he said urgently.

"Th-The field, it only works on living titans," she said, getting up from her station so fast she knocked over the coffee cup that sat on her desk.

Ikande's skin prickled with goosebumps, suddenly feeling very cold as he pieced it all together.  _Shit_.

The tentacle was already reaching for them as he sprung for the kill switch. But with a force greater than he ever could've anticipated, the pane of glass shattered as gallons of water poured into the room. Along with a river of limbs. He tried to swim toward the surface, desperately trying to reach the elevator but Kraken was far faster, grabbing the entire segment of the base and dragging it down to the depths.  
  


Karnak, Egypt - Monarch Outpost 65 - Sekhmet

Chief officer Nadia Zaahir drummed her finger against the desk.

Surrounded by techs that busied themselves with their work, she was restless at the sudden gap in action. It wasn't that she was bored, but looking at the thing in the facility filled her with unease. The big cat in the heart of the temple had been sleeping like a baby for the past couple decades, but it wasn't until earlier that day that they were forced to use the emergency sedatives under Monarch's orders. As the hours passed, and the alerts poured in, it became startlingly clear as to why. At least they had taken affect, the titan's vitals holding steady. But in the blink of an eye something seemed to snap her out of the medicated haze.

With another rumble that shook the temple and its surrounding facility, everyone's panic only increased.

"What's going on? What woke her up" she asked one of the techs - Ibarra, if she remembered correctly.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, everything's working fine." she said. "It's like something  _told_  her to wake up."

Zaahir spoke into her earpiece. "Squads, you see anything?"

The aircraft that hovered around the facility reported negative, and the scanners remained empty. The entire desert was quiet.

"It's Sekhmet." Dr. Halla said. "The sedatives, weren't they enough?"

"Containment field?" Zaahir said.

"On it." Ibarra said, switching it on with the flick of her wrist.

In that moment, the giant feline roared - yawned? - as saber-like teeth unsheathed like swords the size of a car. The titan struggled against the field, quickly rousing herself from hundreds of years of sleep. The coarse fur on her back raised itself in alarm, eyes darting around the temple at the scrambling security personnel below.

"What the hell's going on now?" Zaahir shouted.

"She wasn't happy about that," Ibarra said. "And I'm getting something else, something on the bioacoustics monitor."

"Is it her?"

"Yes, and no. Her heartbeat's definitely increasing but I'm getting something else. It's out of our range but just barely detectable."

"Uhh, Zaahir?" Ibarra interrupted.

"What?"

She motioned toward the temple. Behind the glass, Sekhmet looked ready to pounce, repeatedly ramming herself against the field and yowling in frustration.

Zaahir spoke into the intercom. "All security personnel, ready your weapons."

"The field's collapsing," Halla said, nervous.

Outside, the containment field flickered the more she rammed into it. As if figuring out it wouldn't budge, she clawed at it, her massive claws sinking into the earth through the field and uprooting it from the temple.

"Shit,  _shit_  - all personnel, evacuate  _immediately_." Zaahir shouted into the intercom.

The moment the words left her mouth, the field was torn apart, a rumble shaking the entire temple. Zaahir didn't have to tell them to get out before they all began scrambling for the exit.

As they ran through the hall of the facility, the ceiling was caving in on itself, pieces of stone falling all around them. Dozens of Monarch operatives were crowding the halls as well, pushing past each other for the exit as the big cat was undoubtedly ready to break out at any moment.

Looking behind her, she lost Ibarra and Halla in the stampede. Above the heads that sped past her, she found a hand flailing in the air. With a grunt, she pushed back, tugging up the tech by her arm before she was trampled.

The lights in the facility had already begun to flicker, the deep rumbling behind them getting louder before exploding altogether, sending debris flying their way. Everyone hit the floor like dominoes, and as Zaahir finally came to, she found many that had been similarly flattened. Chunks of wall and ceiling had crushed a good portion of the people in the hall, but that wasn't what caught her attention.

Eyes wandering to what remained of the containment field, Sekhmet was slowly rising to her feet. Zaahir was only a meter or two away from the exit when Ibarra started screaming next to her.

Immediately, she covered her mouth, shushing her as the cat's eyes zeroed in on them. Ibarra's leg was swallowed by a chunk of stone, and it didn't look like she could walk any time soon. So she stayed still. Not moving, her breath was caught in her throat as the creature's eyes assessed her form through the ruins.  _Not a creature_ , she thought.  _A god_.

In her eyes, Zaahir didn't see the malice she had expected to find. Instead, it was something tired, irritated at most. The titan turned away, tail swishing behind her as she lowered her body, coiling to pounce.

Frantic, she pushed the stone from Ibarra's leg, the other biting down so hard on her lip to hold in the pain that a drop of blood dribbled down her chin. It was broken, a splinter of bone jutting out from skin, and she was bleeding pretty badly. Not wasting any time, Zaahir lifted her in both arms, running out of the ruined outpost as fast as her legs could carry her.

Outside, wind and sand whipped around them as one side of the remaining temple suddenly burst into nothing but crumbling stone. As they both scrambled through the burning sand, they could see the cause of the sudden explosion - Sekhmet, her matted fur flapping wildly as she shook herself free of the debris. Zaahir turned and stared.

She definitely resembled something like a smilodon - a slightly hunched back with a scruffy, mane-like crown circling her neck and fading down her back, long claws poking out from heavy-looking paws, a long whip-like tail with a thick wisp of fur at its tip. And of course, her two long canines. But her fur was far from any of her native cousins. Spots and stripes melded together like a natural camouflage, her sand-colored fur blending into the environment around her. Standing at her full height, nearly dwarfing the temple that had been built for her, she looked like a sphinx statue come to life.

The cat looked down at her feet, a confused hum building in her throat. Parts of the facility were still somehow intact, almost like the titan was  _trying_  to be careful. Nevertheless, survivors were scrambling from the building, screaming and tripping over one another in sheer panic. Sekhmet watched them like mice, and with a low careless sweep of her tail she knocked over at least a dozen people.

Just then, a squad of Ospreys flew over their heads, ready to unload what they had on the titan. But before they could even focus on her form, Sekhmet's ears flattened, hissing at the flying objects before pouncing on one. The rounds that landed didn't seem to bother her at all, but it definitely pissed her off. With an earth-shaking growl, she swatted an Osprey, easily knocking it out of the air like a fly. The barrage only continued, but it didn't last long as Sekhmet's claws shredded the aircraft with ease, splitting another in half with her teeth. Tired of the unwelcoming welcome party, she bounded away into the desert - straight toward Luxor. The remaining Osprey followed her trail.

Ibarra passed out in her arms before she could flag down an emergency evac.  
  


Jebel Barkal, Sudan - Monarch Outpost 75 - Titanus Mokele-Mbembe

The ground twitched beneath Sergeant Carole Deschene's feet.

She almost didn't notice, but then she saw that nearly everyone in the control room was looking around, puzzled. Then the floor lurched, and everyone began to scream.

"Satellites?" she snapped.

"I've got nothing." one of the techs - Larson - said.

"Squads," Deschene spoke into her headset. "What are you seeing out there?"

None of the helicopters they had sent out had seen anything approach the outpost from the air, nor had they seen anyone on the ground. Nothing on any of their radars, either. The desert was quiet.

"It's M&M," Dr. Keller said. "He's moving."

"Hit the kill switch." Deschene said.

He shook his head. "We still have the containment field."

"Way ahead of you." Larson said, turning on the field.

In that moment, the floor kicked up hard, overturning tables, sending people and equipment into the air.

"What the hell's going on now?" Deschene shouted.

"Radiation levels are rising," Keller said. "And I'm getting something on the bioacoustics monitor."

"Mokele?"

"Yep. His heartbeat's speeding up. But there's something else - something more distant."

"Sir, he's pushing against the field." Larson interrupted.

Deschene switched on the radio. "I want all choppers back here,  _now_. Recon units, you too - be ready to fight."

"He can't get through the field," Keller reassured her. "He can push all day but that thing won't budge. Yunnan was sabotaged, ours is still intact."

"Well, I call bullshit. He's trying to break out - you know what you have to do, and if you don't, I will."

"Sergeant, these creatures -"

Suddenly, the lights dimmed.

"Jesus.." Larson muttered.

"What?" Deschene snapped.

"The containment field, it just overloaded."

"Evacuate the base. Now." Deschene demanded, pushing past Keller and bolting toward the kill switch.

It was only a few feet away before the entire building flipped. Flailing through the air, she hit a wall so hard she swore her lungs would tumble out. She came to with the taste of blood on her tongue, the smell of something burning, and a sound like a rockslide that just wouldn't quit.

Bodies littered what used to be the containment facility, and the whole place was still shuddering. The power was dead, but light poured in through cracks in the metal ceiling.

As she rose to her feet, the room tilted again, slower this time, until it steadied itself. She was only a meter or two away from the exit. But as she made her way towards it, the door burst open with sand and debris pouring inside. The facility was sinking.

"Everybody out!" she called.

Keller was clearly dead, half-swallowed by the sand that had begun to fill the room. Larson was still moving, but dazed. Blood leaked from an ugly gash in her temple. Not wasting any time, she ran to her, throwing her arm around her shoulder as she lifted her out of the room.

Outside, the once level ground was now sloping down into a cavity in the earth. As they both scrambled up the mound of sand that was quickly forming above them, the building dropped another few feet, burying the door. Deschene turned and stared.

It was like watching a plant sprout from dirt, Mokele-Mbembe emerging from beneath one of the pyramids that surrounded the facility. Most of the outpost was still somehow intact. Monarch personnel were scrambling from the building, screaming and running with their arms flailing in fear.

The titan's back emerged first, pebbled like most lizard's hide. But then enormous five-clawed limbs pulled at the edge of the pit he created, and a long curved horn jutted out like a knife from the sand, followed quickly by his head. He looked like somewhat of an earless elephant, except his tusks turned down rather than up. His tail uncoiled like a snake, it was twice as long as his body. Then his trunk flared out, trumpeting an awful noise as if announcing his own arrival.

An Osprey whizzed over their heads, and then another, shooting out rounds of ammunition at the titan. Deschene looked back in time to see one of them hit Mokele on his back, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. Still, he whipped his trunk about, like swatting flies. In seconds he had knocked over dozens of people, taking out at least one Osprey in the process. As he stepped out of the pit, lurching forward on four strong legs, his tail sliced through a pyramid.

 _This world never belonged to us_ , she thought.  _Now they've come to take it back_.  
  


Skull Island - Monarch Outpost 33 - Titanus Kong

Alone. Quiet. Peaceful.

Kong sat on the mountain ridge, gazing upon his territory. The water around him glimmered with the rising sunlight, the waves crashing on the shores below. The grasslands and the jungles between the mountains were all hushed in the mellow morning. Creatures chittered to themselves as all began to rise. He scratched the space along his ribs, feeling the first rays of sunlight warm his fur. The last of his most recent wounds were already beginning to heal, and for the first time in a while he felt at ease.

Once the sun had reached its peak, he climbed down from the ridge, walking down his old paths, to the places where the world of night and day crossed into twilight - the hollows where the crawlers lived. He found that they were quiet too, their scents faint and old. He did not feel the rumble of their burrowing, so he went from valley to valley, searching. Maybe they had already made their way above ground to hunt.

He passed by the little ones that spoke to him in voices like wind, but they hadn't seen sign of the crawlers either.

Kong huffed, returning to his ridge and watched the colors of the sky fade from blue to orange to red, eventually fading to a deep purple. The sun burned behind the clouds until it too started to vanish, the moon rising in its wake. But there was something else in the evening breeze, something from a distant place - a place he did not know.

That was when he heard the call.

He had heard calls before. Not from the enemies who had slain his parents - the crawlers. Others somehow more like him in ways he couldn't explain. When he was young, he did not hear them often, but in recent seasons the calls were more frequent. Once he had heard one very near -  _too_  near - the island. His island. But it had wanted nothing of him, so he did not care.

But this one wanted something. Wanted him to leave his island. To hunt with it.

And from that call he heard responses. Dozens of them.

For decades upon decades, each season had been the same. The rains came and went, the island's subjects lived and died. And he went on as always. But something had changed now, made him restless, like an itch he couldn't scratch. It made him a little angry. He knew change was good, that was the way of nature. But this change wasn't good, wasn't  _right_.

 _Let them hunt_ , he thought. He did not care about their islands, their kingdoms. Best they did not come after his.

But then he felt a familiar rumble in the stone beneath him, and his anger grew stronger. The crawlers had heard the call too, and they were waking.

Alone. Quiet. Peaceful. All of that was over.

With an irritated chuff, Kong began to hunt.  
  


Yunnan Rainforest, China - Cocoon Site - Titanus Mosura

Dr. Houston Brooks woke up to a humid, misty morning in the Yunnan Province's highlands. Taking a science team and a squad of soldiers with him, they drove down to the waterfall.

The storm continued to roll above them, high winds bending the tops of the trees. Rain thundered down in nearly solid sheets, and he nervously gripped the radio in his hand. There had been another titan released - Rodan. And now all hell was breaking loose. They had lost contact with Monarch HQ, and all outside communications were sketchy as hell.

By the time they reached the camp, the road was close to being a river. As he pushed his way into the command tent, Brooks was met with chaos. He pushed through the rabble to Dr. Gillian, who stood hunched over a radio.

"Castle Bravo? This is containment team Mosura, do you read?" she shouted into the radio. She looked worried.

"Anything?" he asked.

"No, sir, we've been completely cut off." she yelled over the cacophony. "We've been trying for hours but we haven't been able to make contact with the Argo, Castle Bravo, and the other containment sites."

"Which ones?"

"All of them." Brooks hadn't known Gill for being easily spooked, but hearing the fear in her voice gave him a chill. "Angkor Wat, Skull Island, Stone Mountain -  _all the titans_ , they're escaping."

Gill played back the last transmissions they had received from the other outposts: Behemoth shattering buildings in Rio de Janeiro, Methuselah stomping through Munich, Scylla stalking through Phoenix - among dozens of others.

"Jesus.." he murmured.

Only one monitor was different - Monster Zero, the three-headed dragon, sitting atop a volcano in Isla de Mara. They were roaring. And then something clicked in Brooks' mind.

"It's  _him_ ," he said. "He's the one doing this. They're all responding to his call."

Out of nowhere, the power within the tent flickered for a moment, then fading out altogether. He turned to Gill.

"Where's Dr. Ling?"

_____

Ling stood before the waterfall, staring through the glistening curtain of water at Mothra's cocooned form within. Feeling her presence.

From the moment she arrived at the site she had not informed her superiors of everything she knew. She felt a little bad about it, but there were simply some things she could not explain with words. If she were being honest, she wasn't sure of all the facts herself. Only what her mother and aunt told her, and her grandmother and her great-aunt. The stories they had passed to her and her sister were not collected from their culture, but instead passed down from an endless line of mothers and daughters.

 _We're connected to her_ , she'd been taught.  _Connected for numberless generations_.

She had wondered if it was true. How much of her matriline's mythology was real, and how much was mere fantasy created by time? Her sister had always been one to easily believe such things, but Ling needed more proof than what was essentially a long game of telephone.

But there was no denying that Mothra was real, she could never deny that. She had learned of her existence at a very young age, and not just from stories. Firsthand. It was so long ago, and it was so strange that sometimes she thought she had dreamed it. But the connection was tangible. She'd felt it then, and she felt it now, growing ever stronger.

In the past couple hours, something had changed. In the cocoon, Mothra shivered, as if she felt a jolt of some sort. All scanners within the camp confirmed that her metamorphosis had quickened in response.

In the back of her mind, Ling felt a presence pushing through. She let her in.

In an instant, she was met with a flurry of images -  _lightning, fire, death, the sea, light_. It took all of her concentration not to fall unconscious right there, but her lineage had prepared her for this moment. But unlike the stories she had been told, she was alone. Dr. Ilene Chen was half-way across the world, but Ling couldn't fail the sleeping goddess, not now.

As the typhoon continued to swell overhead, she stood in the rain, ignoring the chill - listening, urging Mothra to hurry toward her second birth.

_____

Gill had known where Ling was, although it wasn't hard to guess. Since arriving at the site she was almost always at Mothra's side. Running out into the rain, Brooks following close behind, they found her kneeling with her backs to them. Rain pelted her from all sides, and her coat was more than soaked. And yet she remained as still as a statue.

"Dr. Ling?" she shouted, trying to cut through the howling wind. "We've lost contact with Monarch!"

She didn't turn around.

For a brief moment, the rain slackened, winds dying down to a harsh whistle. Above, the clouds seemed to part, and somewhere beyond the treeline creatures of all sort began to stir with unrest. Or in worship. A trail of what looked like fireflies began pouring from the jungle and the roof of the grotto that held the waterfall, flickering in tune to a rhythm Gill couldn't hear. And the cocoon flickered too, rippling, glowing with bioluminescence. Tears began to form in the fabric of the chrysalis, the fireflies dancing around it like a thousand tiny supplicants.

But as they passed before Gill's eyes, she could see that they weren't fireflies at all - but rather hundreds of bioluminescent moths. And they were all converging around Mothra's cocoon, almost as if they were assisting her entrance like minuscule handmaidens. A tiny smile grew on her face as they fluttered past her, watching in awe.

"Dr. Ling?" Gill said as she got closer to the woman.

Over the sound of the waterfall and Mothra's increasing thrumming, she heard a voice. It was soft, faint, and it almost sounded like someone singing. It was Ling. As she knelt before the cocoon, hands clasped together, a stream of words in a language she didn't understand streamed from her mouth. Though Gill didn't know the words, it almost sounded like a prayer, a plea.

In that moment, the cocoon split, one long insectile leg stretching out. Ling's singing became louder, more passionate.

Everyone in the camp was outside now, bathed in the light that encompassed the waterfall, watching in wonder at the goddess' rebirth. Despite knowing that she should feel afraid at the thought of another titan breaking free, there was something different about this one. Something more important.

From one second to the next, a head slowly broke through the curtain of water, more legs landing on the ground almost gracefully. Carefully.

Ling rose, lifting the hood of her coat as her gaze followed Mothra's rising form. As she sang, her words seemed to harmonize with the titan's own vocalizations, until they both seemed to be singing the same song. But much bigger and far more meaningful. Gill could only watch in reverence as the titan unfurled her wings, a wave of light surging from Mothra's body to its gossamer tips. Gill could almost feel her throat want to close up at the sight of it, instead taking a deep steady breath.

She was beautiful.

The other titans were free, and Mothra had heard their cries. Now it was her turn.

As Mothra stepped from the waterfall, looking down at the tiny beings all staring back up at her, Gill felt something stir in the back of her mind. Mothra leaned down, antennae twitching as she locked eyes with Ling. The doctor looked a little otherworldly in the blue light, and her expression was nothing short of reverential. Slowly, as if asking for permission, she outstretched her hand, placing it on a patch of the downy fuzz that covered the titan's head. But then Mothra's gaze went past her, towards Gill, and Ling's followed soon after.

Ling brought out another hand, gesturing to Gill. Confused, it took her a moment before she pointed a finger at herself, questioning.

"It's alright," she said. "She remembers you."

Remembers?

Gill nearly gasped. All those times back in the temple - where she would examine the pupating larva with Ling, Chen, and Emma - she would talk to it. She thought that maybe, it would comfort the larva, prepare it for the strange new world she would surely be born into. She never would've thought it'd have any impact. Sheepishly, Gill took Ling's hand, letting her guide it to rest on top of Mothra's head. It was soft, if not a little damp from the waterfall. Gill let out a breathless laugh.

Suddenly, one of Mothra's forelimbs raised itself, stopping just between Ling and Gill. Ling hoisted herself upon it, sitting on the rough chitin.

"Wh-What are you doing?"

"There's no other way to contact Monarch HQ, right?" once again, she extended a hand. "She knows how to help."

"I-I don't - um.." nervously, her head whipped around at Brooks. He looked just as clueless.

"Well?"

She knew there wasn't any time to waste, so with a giddy smile, Gill took her hand. Mothra lifted them closer to her head, allowing them to climb comfortably to the space just between her antennae.  _Jodie's not gonna believe this_ , she thought to herself.

With a loud, melodious cry, Mothra pushed herself off the ground and took flight.


	11. A Light in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> be not afraid,  
> for i am with you  
> do not be dismayed,  
> for i am your god

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's starting to get real, folks  
> (also, lots of little nuggets here !!)

As they departed from the Argo, Jodie and the rest of the team were met with both military and government officials alike. Admiral Stenz was at the forefront of the welcoming party, and he didn't look too happy.

"Colonel," Admiral Stenz said to Foster. "I'd like a moment with you and your men."

Foster's eyes flickered to the floor with resentment before nodding to the rest of G-Team. As they followed the admiral out of the hangar, Stenz regarded the rest of them. "I'll see you momentarily."

"What's the deal with that?" Mark said as soon as they were a distance away. "I thought they were with Monarch."

"Yes and no," Coleman answered. "They're sort of on a loan. Until now, we've never really had to test the chain of command."

Jodie's mind flashed back to Emma's speech back in Isla de Mara. Would G-Team really be willing to carry out the government's impending command to kill all titans? Despite everything, she hoped not.

Back in Castle Bravo's situation room, scenes straight out of a sci-fi movie played out on the monitors that hung on one of the room's walls. What had once been cities were now smoking ruins, each filled with military units combating nearly a dozen different titans to no avail. Everyone was aghast - especially Mark - but Jodie found herself feeling numb-er than ever. She knew that every one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people were suffering and dying at the hands of the titans, but she couldn't find the energy within her to allow herself to grieve. She felt that if she did, she'd lose her mind. But that didn't mean she would let it continue to rage on.

But then the meeting began, Stenz walking to the front of the room.

"Moscow, London, Washington D.C. All under attack. On every continent, the titans are triggering earthquakes, wildfires, tsunamis, and disasters we don't even have names for yet."

As he spoke, more images appeared. Ghidorah's storm was now a whole system of hurricanes, from super-cells to immense squalls sweeping through inland areas, spawning thunderstorms and tornadoes by the hundreds. With every passing minute, severe flash floods were already washing away cities and the people within them.

And Ghidorah wasn't the only one causing chaos, Rodan was out there too. Feedback from planes and bases showed volcanoes erupting as he flew past them, and satellite data presented a string of eruptions that coincided with his flight path, sending tons of volcanic ash and gases into the atmosphere. He also seemed to be following Ghidorah's same path, like they were working in tandem instead of ripping each other to shreds. Jodie could only watch in horror. It was almost like they were trying to tear the earth apart, stripping its ecosystems down to the bone and starting anew.

Or maybe Ghidorah just hated everything that much, that the malice she had seen in his eyes extended to the planet that kept him trapped for eons. And the needless destruction was just a process, a goal for him to meet. He truly felt like a god, an angry god ready to smite anything and everything that opposed him. She wanted to believe that that was the case, to give it meaning somehow. But what scared her the most was the possibility that Ghidorah was causing all of this simply because he was bored.

Whatever his reasons, Ghidorah had undoubtedly tried this before and was able to be stopped. And if Chen was right, humans had been a part of his defeat.

"As before, we've been trying to lure the creatures with nuclear materials." Stenz went on. "But they're not taking the bait this time. Their behavior has become random. Erratic. And with our forces spread desperately thin - and these things roaming the globe unimpeded - we're running out of options. And time."

"Not random." Mark muttered.

The admiral noticed, turning his steely gaze toward him.

"Something to add?"

"Their behavior - it's not random or erratic." Mark said as he pointed to a map across the room. It detailed the movements of the various titans since their release.

"If I may," he said, walking toward the map. "As amazing as this sounds, they're moving like a pack. They're hunting. And like all packs from wolves to killer whales they all respond directly to an alpha. Grid..Gheedar -"

"Ghidorah?" Jodie said.

"Yeah. Him." he said. "And with Godzilla gone, he's the one calling the shots. They're acting like an extension of him. If we stop  _him_ , we stop them all."

Stenz only stared at him. Jodie could almost hear the gears turning in his head.

"Is there another creature that might stand a chance against him?" Foster asked.

"No," Serizawa answered. "Ghidorah and Godzilla's rivalry was ancient, unique."

"We believe it was their last battle that trapped Ghidorah in the ice, ages ago." Graham interjected.

"So you're telling me we just killed our best shot at beating this thing?" Jodie said.

"Outside of a miracle, yes." Chen said, sounding a little somber.

She was right, though. It was more than clear that the military didn't stand a chance against him, and that was including the Oxygen Destroyer. And since Godzilla's passing, none of the other titans had even attempted to stand up to the three-headed monstrosity. And that included Rodan, who seemed to be acting like his right-hand despite nearly being beaten to ashes by him not too long ago.

Jodie looked around at all the hopeless expressions that engulfed everyone present. It was suffocating. Suddenly, Mark left the room.

"Where are you going?" Jodie asked.

"To look for a miracle."

She sighed, rubbing her tired eyes.

_____

"If you even  _think_  about -"

The Regulator shushed her, carefully walking closer to them as they were backed against the control panel.

"Listen, I'm not.." her brows furrowed in frustration. It was an odd sight to see. "You're safe with me."

Elena scoffed. " _Safe_? You honestly expect me to believe that?"

"I know how ridiculous it sounds - and I can't quite believe it myself - but we're currently headed towards the city you call Boston. And if you wish to remain unharmed, you'll listen to me."

She was silent for a moment, considering the situation before speaking up. "I'm giving you five minutes to explain yourself before I call that monster of yours over."

The Regulator smiled. "That may have fooled my superior but you can drop the act, Elena."

She stiffened, crossing her arms. "Fine, just..you better give me a good reason."

With a quiet sigh, the Regulator stepped past Elena and toward the control panel. After a quick swipe, the same intercom turned on, a voice in the middle of conversation filling the room. It was Emma's.

"- idn't hit the reset, we hit the detonator."

"Madison is a child." the Controller's voice cut in. "This is what you were fighting for, remember?  _You_  came to  _us_."

"You're avoiding the question -"

" _Listen_."

Emma's voice continued. "No, I won't. And I didn't. It was dumb luck that you managed to even pick up the ORCA's signal." she said. "And I thought we were fighting to restore the natural order, that  _you_  had come here to help the planet. So excuse me for seriously starting to think otherwise."

There was a short bout of silence before Emma started again. "Humans and titans coexisting in balance -  _that_  was the goal. But with Godzilla gone, Monster Zero isn't restoring anything - he's destroying it. This isn't coexistence, it's extinction."

Madison sucked in a sharp breath as she turned away from the control panel. Elena had suspected that death was inevitable in whatever plot she had been thrown in. Death was something natural, a fact of nature. Something she was all too familiar with. And sometimes there was a little more of it than usual but life found a way.  _She_  found a way.

But at the rate things were going, Ghidorah wouldn't leave anything left to grow back. It was worse than any mass extinction the world had witnessed, worse than the damage humanity itself had been steadily causing. Looking at the nearly endless destruction, Ghidorah and the titans under his control had done as much damage as humanity had in the last century in the span of a day.

"But not for us." the Controller said.

"Excuse me?"

"I've seen human nature firsthand, we've observed your kind for centuries. It doesn't change. It just gets worse." he said as calmly as one would in a conversation about the weather. "But you've already opened Pandora's box, and there's no closing it now."

Elena bristled at that comment. It was almost too accurate. But she thought back to that old myth, how the one thing that remained in the box was something small, but something powerful. Hope. Almost as if Emma had heard her thoughts, she responded.

"Maybe there is." she mused.

"Oh, don't be stupid. You broadcast that toy of yours again and you'll ruin your own plan."

"No, it'll ruin yours."

Emma's voice became slightly more distant, as though she was leaving the room.

"This was never about taking back your property, wasn't it. You wanted this to happen."

"And what do you expect to do about it, hm?" Elena could practically hear the smugness in his voice. "Tell Monarch? I'm sure your friends will be  _very_  happy to hear from you again."

"This isn't the world I wanted, the one you  _promised_."

"You once said that the world always belonged to them, so maybe it's time you gave it back."

"No. Not like this."

The sound of her footsteps was interrupted by the sound of the Controller's gun whirring to life. Madison leaped for the panel. "Mom -!" Elena held her back.

"The things I've seen..humanity  _is_  a disease, and the fewer of them there are the better. I suppose I should thank you, doctor. You've made our job much easier."

After a beat, the Controller spoke to another person in the room. "Enforcer?"

"Sir?"

"If Dr. Russell goes anywhere near the ORCA, throw her daughter out of the airlock."

The Regulator shut off the feed. She looked stricken with fear, but was quickly trying to calm herself down.

Madison, however, felt nauseous. The relief she had felt at her mother possibly coming to her senses had been ripped from her mind at the Controller's comment. She knew that if not for her ability, she would've been disposed of a long time ago. And she suspected that her mother knew that too. Despite the countless lives sacrificed for the 'greater good', Madison knew that that line was drawn when it came to her family.

"Was all that necessary?" Elena asked, trying to process the conversation they had just eavesdropped.

"I'm afraid it was." the Regulator replied. "You see, I too wish to atone."

Touching the screen, she pulled up an image of a planet. It definitely wasn't Earth, in fact it didn't look like any planet within the solar system.

"My kind has been working alongside the creature you call Monster Zero for ages, bound in a sort of pact. On my world he's known as the Golden Demise - King Ghidorah. In exchange for keeping our own planet safe from his reach, we lead him to planets bearing life, allowing him to shape it to his liking."

"Jesus.."

"But this world...it's been uncharacteristically resistant. Almost to the point we were just about ready to move on to the next target. But my superior, after seeing your planet's natural defense system, he wants to use it for his own gain. And he can be...persistent."

Persistent was an understatement.

"For years I'd never thought I'd see the day where there'd be a chance to break free of this cycle - until now."

"But, Godzilla.." Madison said before finding a frog in her throat.

The Regulator nodded. Elena sighed, frustrated.

"I know you wish to stop him, but I'm afraid now there may not be another way." the Regulator said, pulling up a map on the screen. Madison and Elena looked at it for a minute before the girl spoke up.

"Hey, we're not that far from Boston."

"...That is correct."

She opened her mouth only to close it, face twisting in thought. "But the ORCA's under that creep's watch."

"What are you thinking?" Elena asked.

"The titans talk to each other like whales, right? If we can get the ORCA, we can broadcast it from Fenway. It's not too far from where we're at now." Madison said, looking at the beeping dot that moved across the map.

"I'm not sure about this." Elena thought out loud. "That thing's done nothing but piss them off."

" _Exactly_. It could distract him long enough to break off the attacks. Maybe give Monarch some time to figure something out."

"Our scanners indicate the city is nearing the end of its evacuation. In an hour or so, it should be safe." the Regulator chimed in. "But we are running out of time. Soon, we will land and settle in one of Monarch's bunkers. But before then, there's still time to exit the ship before we're trapped underground. There, it'll only be harder to escape."

It was a long shot, one that could get them all killed. And with the Regulator, that chance only increased. But there just wasn't the time to think. They could turn the tables, but only if they acted quick enough. Elena's hands tightened into fists.

"We've got one shot at this." Turning to the Regulator, Elena looked desperate. "I'm trusting you. Okay?"

The Regulator nodded.

_____

On Castle Bravo's deck, the fuming clouds above pelted everything with rain. Ghidorah's storm had nearly doubled in size, bigger than any storm system ever recorded. They weren't sure how long he could keep it up, but it didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. If he blanketed the earth - or even a quarter of it - for weeks,  _months_ , it could send the planet into what was essentially a nuclear winter. Plants would die, followed by practically everything else. And that was if there was anything that survived the floods.

Jodie wanted to cry. They had murdered the only thing that might have stopped him. Of course, if Monarch hadn't kept Monster Zero alive in the first place none of this would've happened. But they couldn't have known, could they? Even then, it wasn't easy to kill a titan. Any attempt to euthanize Ghidorah could very well have ended in him waking up. Maybe, despite anything they could've done, Ghidorah was inevitable.

And none of that even mattered anymore. Jodie still found herself standing out there in rain, feeling as hopeless as ever.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she called over the deluge.

Mark kept walking.

"So you're just gonna walk away? What about the ORCA? You haven't even -"

"I can't just sit down there, kid. I gotta do something." he said, boarding an Osprey. Jodie rolled her eyes.

"Like what?"

"Like go find my daughter."

"How? Where are you gonna go, there's no -"

"She's the only thing I got left, Jodie." he said, yelling over the thunder. "I wasn't there for her, I'm not gonna let it happen again."

They both hung there for a moment, the two of them enduring the curtains of stinging rain. She had felt something strike her in the heart. She hadn't been there for Gill, and she wished with all her power that she could take that experience away from her. She found herself nodding at him.

"Good luck." she said, genuine understanding gleaming in her eyes.

Mark nodded back, hauling the two duffle bags in his hand on board the Osprey.

"And sorry about punching you in the face!" she shouted just before he closed the doors behind him.

He chuckled at that, shaking his head. "I was asking for that, wasn't I?" he shouted back.

And with that he disappeared. She was understanding, sure, but even if he managed to get airborne where could he go? It was anyone's guess as to where Emma and Madison actually were, and she doubted he knew the locations of any of Monarch's shelters. And even then, there were dozens of titans to keep an eye out for. It'd take a miracle for anyone to survive out there based on a couple of hunches.

But suddenly, unbelievably, the rain slackened.

The wind had dropped to nothing but a loud whistle, the smell of the first rays of sunlight hitting the damp earth after a summer shower filling the air. Petrichor. Jodie paused. They were out at sea, far from the mainland -  _how in the hell is that even possible_ , she thought. And then there was a sound. No - a  _song_.

Looking up at the sky, brilliant rays of light filtered through the dark clouds. They were warm, comforting. And the song, almost like a whale call but somehow far more beautiful, descended from the steadily emerging sun. Mark stepped out of the Osprey as everyone else on the deck stopped in their tracks to witness the strange sight. Jodie shielded her eyes as the sun became brighter - closer?

Her eyes widened.

With an operatic cry, the clouds parted. Mothra, descending from the heavens as if she were an angel, hovered above the base. In spite of all that was happening, this didn't feel like an attack. She was just revealing herself, like she wanted them to know something. Jodie flashed back to the larva in the Yunnan footage, how different the titan had felt just a short time ago. In fact, calling her a titan felt like a disservice, as it didn't quite capture the ethereal presence Jodie was seeing before her eyes. She certainly didn't look like your stereotypical angel, all carapace and pointed limbs. But she  _felt_  like one, like an answer to a prayer. A miracle.

And as if to drive that fact home, Mothra's shorter forelimbs found purchase on the rim of the base, bending low as if she were bowing. But she wasn't. Squinting through the light, she could barely make out two humanoid figures climbing off of the giant moth's back. Wait.

The figures ran toward her, and she nearly felt herself want to faint as Gill rapidly approached her. She all but collapsed in her embrace as soon as she felt her arms around her.

"Gill?!"

Looking above her shoulder, a familiar face walked toward them - Dr. Ling.

"Gill, what are you - wh..?"

She was interrupted by the sound of Mothra's wings flapping, sending herself into the air once more as she hovered not too far away from the base. With each flap of her wings, the light shone brightly off of its gossamer surface. Ghidorah's storm seemed to continue receding, as if it could not stand Mothra's light.

That was new. Even with Godzilla gone, Ghidorah didn't seem to have as much control as they thought. In that moment, something clicked within her mind. Those cave paintings Chen had shown them, they had all depicted the same thing. Godzilla and humans, fighting side by side with  _her_.

For the first time in a while, Jodie felt hope.

She cupped Gill's cheeks, trying her best not to burst into tears.

"What are you -  _how_  are you here?"

She nodded to Mothra. "She knows how to help."

____

Jodie, Gill, Mark, and Ling were soaked by the time they reached the base's control room. But they found that everyone else's attention was glued to the display outside.

"Beautiful.." Serizawa murmured to himself.

Mothra was, in more ways than one, a light in the dark. Thinking back to all of his talk about balance, Jodie could see how anyone would deify a being such as her. But she was still the only one fighting against Ghidorah's influence. With all the other titans still under his control, what chances would she have against them?

"Mothra, queen of the monsters." Chen whispered, pride and reverence evident in her voice. She reached for her sister's hand as they both stared out the window.

Jodie's eyes flickered over to them. She knew that their family's involvement with Monarch dated back generations, but after all of this, she suspected that maybe the twins knew more about the titan than they let on.

"Are you recording this, Stanton?" Mark asked.

"I record everything, man." he said. " _Everything_."

Turning up the sound on the bioacoustics monitor, the room was filled with what sounded like a whale call mixed with crickets or cicadas. But somehow more musical than that. It sounded desperate, yearning.

"It's like a song." Jodie mused.

"You have no idea." Gill said under her breath, a small grin appearing on her face.

"Could she be trying to communicate with..?" Graham whispered to Serizawa.

"There's more," Stanton said, looking at his screen. "It's just outside our hearing range."

"I'll bet there's only one thing that can understand this." Mark commented.

"Gojira.." Serizawa said.

Typing away at his keyboard, Stanton pulled up a faint but visible reading. "Yeah, I got it," he confirmed. "I'm picking up a reply. Bringing it up."

Another sound joined Mothra's chorus, a familiar rumble, a pained moan.

"He's still alive." Jodie said in disbelieving relief.

Serizawa sucked in a breath, Graham letting out a breathless laugh as she shook his shoulder. Others, however, were not so reverent.

"So her and Godzilla, they like.." Barnes gestured to the goddess outside. "They got a thing going on?"

"Symbiotic relationships between different species aren't  _all_  that uncommon." Graham said.

"I think it's kinda cute." Gill commented.

"It's been this way since the beginning," Chen said. "A Titanus Gojira and a Titanus Mosura, working together to keep the balance."

"They are bound together by a sense of duty, and sometimes even compassion." Ling finished with a wistful smile.

"Still weird, if you ask me." Barnes muttered.

"Can you track him?" Serizawa asked Stanton.

As much as she'd rather debate the giant lizard's relationship status, there was no time to waste. The world was spiraling into chaos, and if there was a chance of stopping it, they'd have to act fast.

"No, signal's too weak."

"But she can." Chen said, still gazing out the window with her sister. She placed a hand against the glass.

"You wanted a miracle," Jodie said, glancing toward Mark. "I think we just got one."

"She knows where he is, but she can't get to him on her own." Ling said, hand closing around the space over her heart.

Thinking for a moment, Mark stepped toward Stenz. "How many nukes do you have?"

"Why?" Serizawa asked.

"I think I know how we can help him."

For the first time in a while, Serizawa smiled. Realizing what he was implying, Stenz turned to Colonel Foster.

"Contact Captain Brody."

_____

The plan had come together quickly.

Stenz' fleet was fueled, provisioned, and ready for anything Ghidorah could throw at them. Or as ready as they could possibly be. Ships, aircraft carriers, jets, and at least a dozen subs were all following Mothra's lead. She was their best shot - their  _only_  shot - at finding Godzilla.

It was odd, seeing Monarch and the government finally working together. But none of that would matter without Godzilla. Everything rested on a hacked-together plan and a good feeling.

Jodie studied the thermal map Foster pulled up, tracing Ghidorah's path as he tore his way through the east coast. It was the biggest storm in recent history, but that wasn't what made it creepy. Somewhere in the eye of the storm, she could barely make out a blob of electromagnetic and radioactive energy. Ghidorah.

"This Category six hurricane over D.C. is where Ghidorah is nesting," Foster briefed. "Working with all four branches of the military, this will be a joint operation to lure it away from the mainland so that we can continue the evacuations long enough for our submersible team to complete their mission."

"Uh, what do those nerds think they're gonna do down there with a bunch of nukes?" Griffin asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Barnes said. "They wanna bring Godzilla back from the dead."

Coleman, Foster, and Ling were staying with the Argo, keeping an eye on Mothra and coordinating the action against Ghidorah. Just outside, the titan had stopped in her tracks, hovering above a specific area of the ocean. As she flapped her wings, light still gleaming from her body like a beacon, dust-like particles spilled into the ocean. As they sunk to the bottom, it almost seemed like she was giving them a trail to follow. Looks like they arrived at their destination.

Sam looked scared out of his mind, and Jodie could practically feel his anxiety shooting through the roof. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"See you soon, man." she said, pulling him in for a quick hug.

"Just don't be gone long, okay?"

She nodded, giving him a half-assured smile.

Jodie, Gill, Serizawa, Graham, Chen, Mark and Stanton walked through the docking bay to the sub.

"This plan," Stanton spoke nervously. "It's what you call a long shot, right?"

"No," Serizawa said, as serious as ever. "It's our only shot."

"Alright," he said, pulling a flask from his pocket. "Cool."

She had been in subs before, the depths of the ocean were no problem for her. Hell, she spent most of her time within Castle Bravo's walls, and that was more than enough to acclimate even the most thalassophobic of folks. But this felt different from all the other expeditions she had tagged along with. There was a sliver a dread that was slowly but surely creeping its way into her mind. She did her best to shake off the feeling. At the very least, it was reassuring that she had Gill with her.

As the hatches closed, engines coming to life, she already found herself feeling more than a little anxious. And they weren't even underwater yet. She grabbed Gill's hand.

In her whole life, she never would've thought they'd come all this way. To think that she was helping to revive Godzilla - that he was even  _real_  to begin with - was still hard to wrap her mind around. And that wasn't even scratching the surface.

Then, the sub began to move, nosing toward Mothra, who almost seemed to be beckoning them toward the space she hovered over. It was a hunch, but Jodie found that she trusted the titan. Something about her was just different from the others. Gill seemed to have the same thought in mind, and she'd trust her judgement more than anyone else in that room. Serizawa being the only exception.

Suddenly, the video feed from the Argo snapped on the sub's main screen.

"We'll be out of range while you're down there." Foster told them. "But a squadron will stay behind to keep an eye out for you."

"We appreciate it." Serizawa said.

"And Mark," Coleman said. "We'll keep listening out for Emma and Madison. Good luck."

"Thanks," he said. "We'll need it."

Ling shot them a thumbs up before returning to her post.

Finally, they dove, her ears popping from the sudden change in pressure.

Everyone around her was in motion. The sub's commander was busy plotting a course with Serizawa. Stanton and Graham were mapping Godzilla's vitals, trying to get just a sliver of an idea as to where the lizard was resting. Gill and Chen were looking over historical documents and folkloric artifacts. Mark was analyzing Godzilla's bioacoustics, comparing them to Mothra's, trying to decode the ORCA.

For once, Jodie felt like the odd one out, but for once that was okay. It seemed like forever since she was allowed to just do  _nothing_. To just sit in comfortable silence, finally letting herself process the events from the past two days - soon to be three.

An hour had passed, and everything was quiet, the only sound coming from the water outside and the beeping of the sub's countless instruments.

Jodie was roused from her nap as she heard something clink on the desk in front of her. It was Mark, back from the mess hall and holding two cups of coffee. Handing one to Graham, he offered the other to her. Sitting up from her previous position on Gill's shoulder, Jodie happily took it.

Across the room, Serizawa was messing around with his pocket watch again. He looked nervous, or maybe thoughtful? Probably both, as the man wasn't exactly known for being able to relax.

"What time is it?" Mark asked.

A barely noticeable nostalgic smile drew across Serizawa's face. "Time to get a new watch."

Jodie observed the exchange, sipping her coffee.

"Andrew's favorite joke." Serizawa said, staring off at nothing in particular.

"You could never take that thing out without him asking.." Mark's voice trailed off. Suddenly he took a deep, shaky breath. "If you told me five years ago that I'd be trying to save the thing that took my son, that it'd be the only way to save the family I have left..."

"Sometimes," Serizawa said, considering the words in his mind. "The only way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons who created them."

"You really believe that?"

"Don't you?" Serizawa replied, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt. "Isn't that why you're here?"

Mark looked like he was at a loss for words.

"There are some things beyond our control, Mark." Serizawa continued. "The laws of nature are cruel, unfair. But they can also be beautiful. We cannot control these things  _or_  run from them. We must accept them and  _learn_  from them - because these moments of crisis are also potential moments of faith. A time when we either come together or fall apart. And nature always has a way of balancing itself. The only question is..what part will we play?"

Jodie, Gill and Graham sat in stunned silence. Even Mark looked a little floored. Serizawa was known for his wise quips, laconic though they were, but this was by far the longest she had ever heard.

"I'll drink to that." Jodie said, taking a long swig of her coffee.

She nearly found herself choking just a second later as the sub lurched violently, rocking like they were stuck in a whirlpool. Ear-splitting alarms blared throughout the sub. It couldn't be Ghidorah, could it? Jodie ran the names of all the other possible aquatic titans that could've been set loose. Leviathan? Ebirah? Titanosaurus? Surely they would've seen them in the tracking data, right?

But they weren't being rammed by a sea monster, or eaten. Since the initial bump it almost felt like they were spinning, twisting in some powerful current.

"Bowman, status of the ship?" the commander said.

"Some sort of vortex." he replied. "It's dragging us down."

Everyone clung for dear life as the hull of the ship groaned, metal straining against the pressure. Spiraling further downward into ever deeper water, Jodie felt ready to pass out.

"Still descending." Bowman said, counting down toward the sea floor. "Four hundred feet. One hundred. Fifty."

"Brace for impact!" the commander shouted.

_____

The bridge of the ship was nearly empty as all personnel was preparing to land.

They weren't even doing a whole lot of guarding or patrolling, and with the Regulator guiding them down the hall, nothing about it seemed out of place. But that didn't stop Madison's heart from hammering in her chest. She gripped her backpack.

Despite hearing that comforting voice not too long ago, Godzilla's vacancy had left her feeling different. Like a part of her was missing.

 _Worry not, young Speaker. He is old but he is strong_ , _and you are smart. Just keep moving forward,_  the voice said. Madison could do nothing more than trust it.

Stopping in front of what looked like a supplies closet, the Regulator punched in a code. Inside were scores of rations and what she assumed were medical supplies, albeit strange-looking. And in the back of the space were rows of the small handguns everyone carried around. The Regulator loaded her backpack with the supplies.

In spite of their advantages, they had to work fast. Once the Controller realized they weren't anywhere on the ship, things would definitely heat up. And she didn't want to be around for that.

As they quick-walked toward the control room, the Regulator stopped them. The halls were clear, but if anyone saw them enter the room - with her backpack no less - it would raise more than a couple eyebrows.

"Wait here." the Regulator said in a low whisper, entering the room.

Suddenly, Elena pulled Madison to the side, flattening themselves against the corner of the wall. The Controller and one of his men came out, walking down the opposite side of the corridor. The Regulator stuck her head out of the room, waving them inside.

In the center of the room was the ORCA. Madison was worried they might've hid it someplace, maybe even destroyed it, but that didn't seem to be the Controller's style. She was starting to think he enjoyed mocking them like this, that he thought making her mother able to look at her creation but never being able to touch it was funny. A triumphant smirk grew on her face as she stepped forward to unplug the ORCA from its place. But she suddenly froze, feeling eyes on the back of her head.

The faint scuff of shoes and a shadow casting itself over them made her turn around. She had hoped it was her mother, but instead came face to face with one of the Controller's men looming over them. She had seen him around before, and she didn't know his designation but in her mind she had been referring to him as "The Mountain" due to his size. Madison gulped.

He wasn't given the chance to so much as take a breath before the Regulator's hand flew to her side, drawing her gun and shooting him square in the chest. It seemed to stun him, as he jerked on the floor like a fish before settling with a thud. A satisfied, mildly amused grin appeared on the Regulator's face.

As the Regulator grabbed the same pair of headsets from Antarctica, Elena grabbed the ORCA, tucking it under one arm as they moved on to the next phase of their plan. Walking a short ways out into the hall, the Regulator bent to the ground, fingers searching the fine seams in the floor before lifting up a thin panel. Gesturing for them to hop inside, Madison jumped in first, and then Elena. The Regulator climbed in afterward, shifting the panel back to its place. She and Elena followed her lead.

It was stuffy, and Madison could already feel herself start to sweat through her jacket, but she continued walking through the narrow, cramped space. Every now and then they would stop, hearing footsteps above them, and after a beat, they continued walking. The only light in the tunnel came from the dull glow of the pipes around them, running with a noxious yellow, odorless substance she hoped wouldn't kill her. She wasn't sure how long it would take to get to their destination, but it almost felt like they were spiraling downward. She felt a bit like Orpheus, but Madison didn't look back, knowing that if she really wanted to turn the tables, it was do or die.

 _We're gonna be fine_ , she reassured herself.  _By the time they figure it out we'll be out and away_.

Every now and then they would pass in front of a grate, filtering light from above. They'd pause before then, the Regulator peeking through the slits and gesturing for them to scurry past when all was clear. Madison wasn't sure where they had ended up when she stopped them, peering up.

Next to the grate was someone sitting down at what looked like a table. Did these people even have a mess hall? If so, the room seemed to resemble one. Seeing that whoever the person was wasn't paying attention, she waved them through. But looking up, Madison caught a glimpse of the person there. It was her mother. Her breath caught in her throat, momentarily paralyzed.

She was just sitting there, and it looked like the events of the past day were finally catching up with her. She knew her mother could push her feelings pretty far down, so far that it was hard to gauge whether or not she could feel anything at all. But she couldn't erase them, and now they were finally coming back up like a geyser.

She knew her mother wasn't a bad person. She had  _definitely_  made some bad choices, some of which Madison thought she might never forgive, but it all came from a good place.

"Madison, come on." Elena whispered, impatient.

"Sorry." she muttered.

But as she turned away from the grate, something on her backpack snagged on one of the wires in the already crowded tunnel.

" _Shit_ ," she hissed, trying to get it unstuck as quietly as she could.

Elena helped her, the Regulator stopping in her tracks.

"What are you doing?" she murmured.

With every rattle of the pipes, Madison felt her stomach lurch with anxiety, hoping that the sound wouldn't carry to the floor above. At last, she wrenched the backpack free from the wires, sighing quietly.

"Madison?"

She jumped, swallowing a yelp. Blocking the view from the grate was her mother, staring down at all three of them with a quizzical gaze.

"I-I can -" she muttered, suddenly stopping to grab the Regulator's arm as she heard the whirring of her stun gun. "I can explain."

"What do you think you're  _doing_?" she whispered harshly, seeing the ORCA in Elena's arms.

Madison breathed for a moment, her mind scrambled but finally finding a response. "Closing Pandora's box."

She said nothing. Gently nudging her to the side, Elena stepped forward. "Emma, you can still help stop Ghidorah..undo your mistakes."

Emma thought for a moment, eyes flickering to the side. She let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm not going."

"Mom -"

"Maddie, if I leave they'll find us. Just..Just let me buy you some time."

Madison felt tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. "I'll be  _fine_." Emma continued. "Once we're in the bunker, I'll come find you."

After a moment, Madison replied. "Fenway Park. Stay safe, okay?"

Emma smiled sadly. "I think I should be the one saying that to you."

Her gaze lingered on her mother for another heartbeat before moving on, continuing on their path for just a little while longer. With each second, Madison expected to hear some sort of alarm or shouting from above. Surely the person the Regulator had stunned had recovered by now, or someone had found him. Either way, their time was as limited as ever.

Finally, the Regulator stopped, popping open a panel in the floor above them and looking around. Eventually, she climbed out, helping her and Elena out of the tunnel.

They were in the hangar, the banged up Osprey from Antarctica sitting in its center. They weren't planning on taking that, were they?

The Regulator approached a series of panels in the wall, accompanied by five separate tubes that connected to circular spaces on the floor. She punched in a code on three of the tubes, motioning for Elena and Madison to each step into one.

"Uh, that won't drop us in midair, right?" she spoke, hanging onto her backpack a little tighter.

"Well, yes, but not in the way you're thinking."

The Regulator stepped inside, shutting the tube's sliding door behind her. "Just press this button," she pointed to the one in the top right corner of the keypad. "And try not to breathe. I'll meet you on the ground."

Closing her eyes, she was engulfed in a thousand beams of light, her particles seeming to disintegrate before them. When the light disappeared, the Regulator was gone altogether. It was like something straight out of Star Trek. Shrugging, Elena stepped in. Madison was nervous, but she was trying her best to hide it. As she walked into the chute, she could feel her heart crowding up into her throat. And when the door closed, her lungs felt like they were growing smaller and smaller. Out of the corner of her eye, Elena was already gone. Pressing the button, she closed her eyes.

Madison couldn't quite explain how she felt.

It didn't burn, but it had happened so fast she couldn't really register what happened. When she opened her eyes, there were no tubes or wires or sterile-white walls. She was surrounded by trees and underbrush. Looking next to her, also slightly disoriented, was Elena and the Regulator, looking off into the distance. They seemed to be in a patch of woods, but as she followed the Regulator's gaze she saw swarms of aircraft flitting above a familiar skyline.

Boston. Home.

Without hesitation, the three began their trek. Madison hefted the backpack further up her shoulders as Elena hauled the ORCA.

It was going to be a long walk.


	12. Apotheosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is my name forever  
> the name you shall call me  
> from generation to generation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can probably guess why this chapter hurt my feelings

After what felt like forever, lights flickered back on and air began to blow through the sub's vents again.

Jodie's heart was hammering, and she was pretty sure she had hit her side against something, the space just below her ribs throbbing with pain. Gill was standing up from previously being in a crumpled pile on the floor. Serizawa helped Graham up to her feet.

"Damage report." the commander said as everyone got back on their feet.

"Fire in the torpedo room is out." one of the men said. "Atmosphere is stable. We're pretty banged up but we'll make it."

"Make it  _where_?" Mark asked.

"Can't fix our position," one of the control techs said. "But inertial says we're six hundred miles from departure."

Running the numbers in her head, Jodie's brows scrunched together in confusion. No way this sub could make six hundred miles in little over an hour. And the lights had only been out for about 30 minutes since the vortex. Despite everyone else's confusion, Stanton was beaming.

"That's  _impossible_ , unless.." Graham thought out loud, grasping her chin.

"I  _knew_  it, man!" Stanton exclaimed. "That vortex was a tunnel into the hollow earth!"

Everyone shot him a pointed look. He waved them off.

"Y'know, subterranean tunnel system that connects the entire planet - doesn't matter, I knew I was right - I  _told_  you, Chen!" he rambled.

"Shut up, Rick." she said, putting a hand to her throbbing temple.

The Hollow Earth was an old theory, up there with the likes of the Flat Earth theory and whatnot. It had been entertained by scientists back in the 1600s thanks to a one Edmund Halley, but in a few centuries it faded to nothing but science fiction. That is, until Dr. Houston Brooks proposed an updated version of the theory back in the 70s. He had tried to test his theory on the Monarch expedition to Skull Island, but at this point everyone knew how  _that_  went. While he had managed to gather evidence of cave systems deeper than usual, it just wasn't enough to prove the larger theory.

Until now, if Stanton was right.

Had Mothra known about the vortex? Was it encoded in the minds of all titans? That debate would have to wait, however, as they still had a mission to get on with.

"One-second emergency blow forward." the commander said.

The sub lurched ahead, dipping down into a crevasse.

"Doctor?"

"Launch probes." Serizawa said.

Ahead of them, a trio of probes flitted through the water, their floodlights illuminating the pitch black abyss around them. In the control room, the feeds from the drones appeared. As the sub followed their lead, they approached strange, twisting shapes that were still too vague to make out through the murk. But even then, it was obvious they weren't natural.

"Lights on, cameras good, range one thousand yards." Stanton said as he pushed the drones farther along.

As the sub and its guides continued through the darkness, Jodie could see the occasional flicker of life dart away from the lights. But one shape loomed, the shape of a woman's face - pale and ghostly - suddenly appearing on the feed. Jodie flinched.

"Jesus," Stanton said in mild shock.

As the probe pulled back, widening the frame, they found it wasn't some waterlogged corpse or a mermaid. It was the figurehead of what looked like a centuries old galleon. And it wasn't alone.

Dozens of wrecks were visible in the searchlights, many piled on top of each other. What looked like an authentic Viking ship raised its dragon-shaped figurehead from the remains of galleys, cogs, and frigates. The rusted cylinder of a submarine, covered in barnacles, lay near the broken remnants of a warship that had probably last seen the surface during the first world war. And they had all been drawn here by the vortex, thrown into the mouth of the abyss. And they could very well be next, just another addition to this graveyard.

But as they pushed forward, Jodie found that analogy had taken an all too literal turn.

Among the wrecks were immense bones - ribs, arms, legs, skulls, bony plates with spikes and spines and anything in between. And beyond that was something else.

"Pan right." Serizawa said.

There was a light in the abyss, but not the artificial blueish green light from the sub and its probes, it was almost a soft orange glow that emitted a reddish fog. It wasn't coming from the surface, but boiling up from a trench. It was lava, pouring out of fissures in the earth and creating a sort of underwater stream, flowing across the seafloor through giant structures that were definitely not natural. Gill leaned closer to the feed, eyes shining with fascination.

Through the muck were dozens of crumbling statues the size of skyscrapers, and alongside them were temples and other smaller buildings - the ruins of a cyclopean city. Breathtaking colonnades reminded Jodie of Roman architecture, but in some places the structure seemed more Egyptian. And in others they were more ornate, like Southeast Asian temples. And illuminating it all was the stream of lava.

"Amazing.." Gill said with a grin on her face.

Passing countless monuments, Jodie could barely make out what might be hieroglyphics, bas-reliefs, and murals of strange creatures and much smaller humans.

"Looks Egyptian, Roman maybe?" Jodie said, coming up from behind Gill to observe the feeds.

Chen shook her head. "No, this is something else, this is  _much_  older." She looked closer through the dim lighting. "Can't say what exactly, but it almost looks Mesopotamian at least."

Much larger murals came into view, and now Jodie could recognize what she was talking about. The strange creatures on the earlier hieroglyphics were much clearer now, and they all depicted the same four figures - Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and Kong. And beneath them, smaller figures were arranged in various forms of respect, service, or worship.

"You were right." Gill breathed, looking over at Chen. "The legends, the stories.. _all_  of it. They're all true." She began taking stills of the ancient carvings.

"They really were the first gods." Graham whispered.

 _This changes everything_ , she thought. Emma, Chen, Serizawa, they had all been right. Although Emma had royally screwed up and gotten unknowable amounts of people killed needlessly, the link between humans and titans was inescapable.

What caught her attention the most was that there was nothing in the human figures' poses that suggested fear or intimidation. Piety, maybe. But also cooperation. This was the coexistence they had always spoken of. This was the connection.

"After all this time," Gill said, looking at a particularly large mural, depicting Godzilla - in all his glory - defending a city from what looked like MUTOs. "He never forgot."

"But we did." Serizawa responded.

As they passed through the sunken city, the ruins began to tell another story. It was slowly becoming clear that the city hadn't been peacefully abandoned. Nearly everything around them had been scarred, scorched, or blasted to pieces. The sea bottom itself bore the scars of some ancient cataclysm that had undoubtedly sent the city asunder. The last mural was of a familiar three-headed dragon, the wall cracked beyond repair. Seeing Ghidorah depicted on something so ancient sent a chill down Jodie's spine.

And with the wreckage, the murals of man and monster ended - but not because the artists had finished their story, but because their work had been wrecked beyond recognition. Whatever harmony had once existed in this place had been drowned in a single day of misfortune much like the mythical Atlantis.  _Had this even existed above_ , Jodie thought.  _Or was this all one big cave, once filled with air?_  Either way, who - or what - brought about its downfall was beyond her understanding. It very well could have been a war between titans fought with the aid of humans. If so, given the amount of giant bones, the end result didn't seem to have gone very well for either side.

Except, perhaps, Godzilla's.

"If the stones could only speak, the stories they could tell us." Stanton mused.

"Amen to that." Gill said, continuing to take photos.

"Dr. Stanton, any sign of Gojira?" Serizawa asked.

"Yeah, the probes are picking up a radioactive blob just past past that ridge." he said, pointing to the thermal screen.

"Set a course."

_____

Elena and the others pushed through the woods as fast as they could.

She kept imagining the Controller behind her, gun in hand, that same shock the Regulator had shot her with that first day surging through her whole body. Or maybe this time she  _wouldn't_  be stunned. Would she even feel it? Would everything just stop? She was determined not to find out, and she was determined even more so not to let Madison find out either.

After nearly an hour, they finally came across a winding two-lane road with hundreds of cars packed bumper to bumper. Through the windows, she could see people staring at them as they walked in the opposite direction, puzzled but not making any attempt to stop them. She couldn't blame them.

It wasn't long before the road passed into a suburban area where they could no longer see the skyline. The Regulator slowed.

"I suppose I should let you take the reins."

Madison nodded.

She knew Boston like the back of her hand, but it was more than a little eerie seeing all the empty houses. Every now and then they would see a family still packing up. At one point some people in an SUV stopped and offered them a ride, but once they learned they were going  _into_  the city, they shook their heads and moved on.

Then the road joined a bigger one, all bodegas, malls, office complexes, and finally an interstate that was just as bad - if not worse - than the road outside the city. It was practically at a standstill, and the drivers were definitely not happy about it. Elena could feel a headache coming on from the constant stream of honking and screaming, but what bothered her most were the people too frustrated to wait, weaving through cars and abandoning theirs altogether. It was like swimming upstream, and the ORCA was heavy. She could only imagine how much the backpack must weigh for Madison. She was already more than tired, and they still had a long way to go until they reached the ballpark.

Every now and then they would take turns carrying the loads, stopping to rest or eat or drink. But never for more than a few minutes.

At least Elena felt a little safer now that they entered the downtown area. The evacuation had already kicked into high gear, sirens wailing near and far. Jets tore through the skies, helicopters and Ospreys filled with military and civilians alike taking off in the distance. The odds of the Controller and his men finding them were significantly lower now, and she could only hope that Emma had kept her word.

By the time they got within sight of Fenway, the crowd had turned, no longer flowing out of the city but within the park. It was one of the evacuation hubs, complete with aircraft lifting hoards of people lifted off every other ten minutes or so. It seemed to be going well. A little too well, perhaps, but a small part of Elena thought maybe there was a chance they could survive.

No. They  _would_. She would see to that. And with the ORCA in their hands, those chances were looking just a little higher.

But with all of the people pouring into Fenway, it was going to be a little trickier than they anticipated. Finding no other way in, they merged into one of the lines where people were being herded into the stadium by cops and soldiers like a bunch of sheep. Every few minutes the loudspeakers above reminded them all to remain calm, that the ships would be departing every fifteen minutes or so. A few places ahead of the line, a little girl was clinging her to her father. She looked terrified, tears streaming down her face as she saw the bustling stadium around her. Madison made a funny face, and the girl cheered a little and turned away. A small, hardly noticeable smile appeared on Elena's face.

Just a moment later, Elena saw their chance. No one official was looking, and the line had gotten as far into the stadium as they could go without reaching the helicopter waiting ahead. The trio sprinted across the field until they reached a door that lead to the broadcasting booth at the top of the stadium. But after jiggling it, she found it locked. She slammed a fist against the door.

" _Damn it_ ," she cursed.

Wordlessly, the Regulator nudged her back. Lifting her leg farther than she thought a human could reach, she kicked down like a hammer. Almost as soon as her heel connected with the lock, the door splintered from the impact, swinging open.

"After you."

Madison raised her eyebrows, trying to hide an impressed grin. As they slipped inside, there were stairs that lead to the booth. They had reached the easy part. Despite the massive crowds outside, in there, it was deserted. Madison looked down at her hand as it slid up the railing.

She wondered what her dad was doing, if he was still okay. She remembered coming here a few times with him, just the two of them. Neither her mom or Andrew were big baseball fans. And she had never cared that much about it herself, but she liked the atmosphere, sharing it with someone she cared about.

 _Please be okay_ , she thought.

 _He will be fine, young Speaker_ , the warm voice echoed.  _Just worry about yourself_

That was going to be hard to do. There was so much to worry about that she could barely begin to comprehend it. And above it all, she hoped her mom was okay too, that the Controller didn't take out their escape on her. She knew there was a good chance he might. She shook her head, not wanting to think about it.

It took them a little longer to find the booth than she would've liked, but eventually they came to the door. This time, it was unlocked. Inside was a large table surrounded by dozens of tv screens and other broadcasting equipment. From there, they had a bird's eye view of the evacuation through the giant glass windows ahead of them. For a moment, she hung there, watching the events unfold. Behind her, Elena and the Regulator placed the ORCA on one of the tables, and they got to work.

Opening up the ORCA, they began hooking up cables to the stadium's speaker system, turning up the volume as high as it could go.

Looking away from the window, she found that whoever was here had left a screen on. Madison listened as the anchor droned on.

" _Massive storms and other disasters triggered by the titans have forced millions to flee major cities. And with D.C. hit hard by a category six hurricane that has left the capitol completely flooded, this is the single greatest disaster in human history_."

The news footage showed pure pandemonium. Dozens of tornadoes and waterspouts churned through the air and sea, sucking in everything they touched up into a sickly yellow sky. Madison could make out buildings in the distance, but it soon became obvious that only the tops of those buildings were visible, while others were completely submerged altogether. The summit of the Washington monument and the dome of the capitol building looked like they had been dropped in the middle of a lake. And all the while, lightning struck all around the area in thin golden bolts.

"It looks like the sky's alive.." Madison thought out loud.

Looking up at the screen, Elena shivered. "That's because it is."

Another chain of lightning flashed in the bruised clouds, and for an instant she swore she could see Ghidorah's demonic shadow.

" _The grim search continues as people around the world sift through the debris of leveled homes in the hope of finding missing loved ones. And though this sight is heartbreaking, it is in no way unique. Cities around the globe have fallen under the wake of what many are calling 'The Rise of the Titans'._ "

The Regulator cleared her throat as the ORCA beeped to life, its screens flipping open.

"Should be ready for broadcasting. You know how to work it, yes?"

Madison nodded. She scrolled through a handful of signatures until she finally found one that looked familiar. Pulling up the bioacoustic waveform on the ORCA's main screen, the words 'Alpha Frequency Found' appeared beneath it.

Without hesitation, she hit the button.

Turning to Elena, the Regulator hooked up the headset to the ORCA, handing it to her in the same motion. She took it in her hands, turning it over with a contemplative look on her face before steeling herself and placing it on her head.

"Are you sure about this?" the Regulator asked.

Slowly, Elena nodded, closing her eyes as she entered the headspace.

_____

The sub continued to drift through the ghostly city at a steady pace. They were headed toward something large, far larger than any of the other buildings. At first Jodie thought it was a dead end, but as they drew nearer, she saw that it was a massive sculpture carved into a natural stone face. It was a doorway of sorts, but not on a human scale. A titanic one. Carved on either side of the structure's base were two huge three-clawed feet.

Through the chthonic doorway, lava cascaded along a tunnel that rose in a series of large steps, eventually forming a larger fall that poured into the river beneath them. At the far end of the tunnel, a faint but familiar blue glow lined the entrance into..somewhere.

"I think we should stop." Stanton said.

"Why?" Serizawa asked.

"Because I still wanna have kids one day." he said, tapping the top right corner of his screen. The geiger counter built into the drones flashed a dangerous red warning. "Preferably without flippers."

"Full stop. Hover the ship." the commander said.

The drones continued on without them, disappearing down into the tunnel as they all continued to watch their feed.

"Things are getting steamy." Stanton said. "Probes aren't gonna last long, but I'm picking up the big guy's radioactive signature up ahead. It's weak, but it's there."

He had barely gotten the words out of his mouth when the feed from one of the probes ceased, quickly followed by another. The third pushed forward, and a moment later it finally entered the vast cavern.

"Okay, we got O2, CO2, and methane - looks like some sort of air pocket in there." Stanton said.

As the probe rose to the surface of the cavity, the red-orange glow became more intense. Illuminated by the falling lava, a vast temple complex was laid out before them. And although the video feed was already beginning to lose resolution from the radiation, they could see him clear as day. Godzilla, splayed out on the temple floor like a fallen deity in the heart of his own temple, lava breaching up from beneath him like ichor.

"Oh my god -" Mark breathed.

"- zilla." Stanton finished.

And with that the video cut out into nothing but static. "Aaand goodnight, Grace." Stanton let go of the probe's controls, leaning back into his chair.

"Pull up the last frame." Serizawa said.

He zoomed into the volcanic vents surrounding Godzilla. It stung Jodie's heart to see the still of the titanic lizard in such a state, a powerful being so beaten like that. Helpless.

"There," he said, pointing to the glow behind his scutes. "It's the source of the radiation."

"He's feeding. Regenerating." Graham mused.

"This is his home." Serizawa said.

The two shared a look of satisfaction. Serizawa turned away, taking his notebook out of his pocket and flipping through the pages while Graham continued to stare at the frame.

"That must be how he's been able to survive so long." Mark said. "Always adapting, evolving, it's incredible."

"Welp," Stanton said. "He doesn't really need our help, dude's got it covered, right? He just needs a nap."

"No," Chen interjected. "After San Francisco he was gone for nearly five years. After the Oxygen Destroyer, this process could take decades."

"We have to proceed as planned." Serizawa said firmly.

"Hang on," Stanton objected. "We're gonna launch a nuclear torpedo in order to revive a giant monster. That's not exactly like jump-starting a car."

"We have one more complication," the commander said. "Our weapons systems were damaged during the crash. We can't launch."

Jodie's heart sank. "Shouldn't you have mentioned this a little earlier?" she said.

The commander was at a loss for words.

"Can it be repaired?" Mark asked.

"I'm afraid not." he replied.

They had come all this way, followed Mothra, journeyed into the hollow earth and found Godzilla - all for nothing. But Graham wasn't discouraged.

"Could we attach one of the warheads to a probe? Set a timer so that it gives us enough time to clear the area before it detonates?" Graham said.

Stanton shook his head. "They wouldn't handle the weight. Besides, they'll barely make it past the cave entrance before the radiation eats it."

"Okay," Chen said, pacing. "So what if we go inside, set a timer, and detonate one of the warheads manually?"

"No way," Stanton said. "If the heat doesn't fry you the radiation will. It might be good for titans but walking in there would be like walking into Chernobyl."

The sub was silent. There were no other options, none that ended in either the death of Godzilla or the deaths of themselves. Jodie bit at a nail.

"I'll go." Serizawa said, breaking the silence.

Jodie almost thought she'd heard wrong.

"What the hell does that mean?" Mark asked incredulously.

"No, I'll go - Serizawa, you're too im -" Gill started before being quickly interrupted.

" _What_? No, what are you -?!" Jodie was silenced as Serizawa raised a hand.

He didn't speak, but his face said it all. He had skipped to the obvious conclusion: a life for a life. And he would be the one to take that leap. Once he made up his mind, there was almost no convincing him.

"There must be another way." Graham insisted.

"There's no time for a debate," he said. " _I'll go_."

_____

_It's cute_

_That you think whatever trick you pulled can stop us._

_We'd applaud your efforts,_

_But we're busy_

Elena's jaw tightened, trying to push through the voices in her mind.

_Don't feel so down, Speaker._

_When we're finished, we'll leave you alive last_

_So that you may see our wonders in full swing._

_It's going to be beautiful._

"He still talking to you?" Madison asked, startling her out of her daze.

She nodded. "He doesn't know about the ORCA. Yet. But even then he's suspicious...he thinks whatever we're doing won't work." she bristled, rubbing her arms of the sudden chill. "Let's hope we can prove him wrong."

"Look." the Regulator said after a beat, pointing to the screen.

For the past ten or so minutes they had been anxiously watching the new stream in from around the world for any sign of change. Now, it seemed, that the tables were finally turning. Madison smiled.

" _It does appear as if the attacks have ceased for the time being, with the creatures going from destructive to docile within minutes. Now, no one is sure how_ or _why but this seems to be happening simultaneously around the world_."

The titans in the news footage didn't seem docile so much as they did completely dazed, if not confused. Like they had just been dropped in the middle of a city with no prior knowledge of waking up to begin with. The two conflicting alpha frequencies were scrambling their massive brains, and unable to decide who to follow, they couldn't act out at all.

 _Take that, you bastard_ , she thought with a satisfied grin.

Somewhere at the front of her mind, Ghidorah laughed. Elena would've rolled her eyes if only his signature cackle wasn't so unsettling.

_This is only a minor setback._

_They are dull, weak. This was to be expected._

_But we will manage._

_You just keep thinking that, asshole,_ she responded.

_It's funny, really. Seeing you try so hard. It's amusing._

_But also sad. You can't stop a storm, how could you stop us?_

Nearly growling from frustration, Elena's eyes screwed shut.  _Why? What could you possibly gain from all this? A dead kingdom with no subjects?_

There was a long, weighty pause after that. It frightened her, but she would rather die than admit that to him.

_If you're so confident, Speaker,_

_Then maybe we should pay you a visit._

_It's only polite._

_Shit_ , Elena buried a sneer, throwing the headset onto the table in frustration.

Those self-absorbed bastards couldn't be reasoned with, that much she was sure of. But even with the titans incapacitated, it still didn't seem to sway them. She knew it was all far from over, but if the ORCA confused the titans long enough, Monarch would have a chance to do their thing. That is, if they even had a plan to begin with. Madison seemed faithful in their endeavors, and that faith was becoming increasingly infectious.

Meanwhile, on the field below, the crowd had thinned out to almost nothing. Another handful of airlifts and the evacuation would be complete. If anyone noticed the odd pulses coming from the stadium speakers, no one had come to check it out. But they weren't going anywhere. They couldn't keep the ORCA out of their sight, not now.

And even if they  _could_  leave, they didn't have anywhere to go.

_____

Captain Ford Brody helped Serizawa into the dive suit.

He had already prepped the bomb beforehand, laughing dismally at the irony of the situation. But now, as he helped prepare the doctor for what was assuredly a suicide mission, there was no sign of humor in him.

It was all happening too fast, Jodie felt like she was slipping down a slope that was now nearly vertical. There  _had_  to be some another way, it was just no one could think of anything during such a time crunch. That had to be it.

"We've removed the warhead's lead shielding and inserted a mechanical timer, so it can function in the radiation." Brody explained.

"On first contact you'll start losing your long-range vision." he said, quietly. "After you surface your motor skills will start to fade, but I added a heliox mixture to your tank. It should help keep you stable longer."

Serizawa nodded with an unreadable expression as he took in the specifics of his impending demise. The captain was trying to be precise, clinical. Jodie could see the sadness in his eyes just below the surface of professionalism.

"Once you get inside, you'll have about six minutes," he said. "Before the radiation -" he stopped himself, taking in an unsteady breath.

Jodie could feel her eyes well up with tears. Nearly losing Godzilla was one thing, but losing Serizawa? It was too much. Everyone could feel it. He was part of the very foundations of Monarch, and most of their lives. He was their heart.

Brody sent him off with a quick hug.

"It was an honor, man." Stanton said, reaching out and shaking Serizawa's hand.

Chen grabbed Serizawa in a hug, gripping him like she didn't want to let go. But she did, her arms pulling back slowly. Gill and Jodie both went in for a hug, and as they pulled away with soft pats on their backs, she could hear Gill sniffle just a bit. Mark shook his hand.

"Thank you," Serizawa said. "All of you."

He walked over to Graham, who was standing near the back of the crowd. She was trying not to let it all spill out, Jodie could tell. But as Serizawa pulled his notebook from his pocket, handing it to her, she sucked in a sharp sob.

"I couldn't." she said.

A wistful smile appeared along his face. Insisting, she grasped his notes with trembling hands.

"He fought for us. Almost died for us. He's not only proof that coexistence is possible, he is the key to it." his smile started to fade, but his eyes still held that solemn determination. "Take care of them, Vivienne."

She was fully sobbing as she hugged him, wrapping her arms around him like he was the last person on earth. He reciprocated the embrace, closing his eyes.

" _Sensei, aishiteimasu_." she whispered.

With that, he turned the airlock, climbing into the small sub. Giving a nod, the doors sealed and the water began to rise. Jodie and the others could do nothing but watch as he entered the fiery tunnel.

_____

Serizawa tried to control his breathing as he entered the tunnel, trying to steady the heart that wanted to jump out of his chest.

It was getting hot. The bottom of the sea had been cold, even through the walls of the sub he came from, but the river of lava flowing down from above was warming the tunnel and sub he was in now. If it got any hotter, he might not even survive long enough for the radiation to kill him.

He had to keep a calm mind.

He thought of the others - his colleagues, his friends, Vivienne - leaving them behind hurt him more than they would ever realize. But if he didn't do this, in due time there wouldn't be any of them at all.

If he turned back now they could easily turn tail and find a shelter, survive until they could come up with some other plan. But he couldn't let Godzilla die. Once Ghidorah destroyed every other threat to him in the world above, he would surely turn his attention elsewhere. With Godzilla weak, it wouldn't take much effort to finish him off. Then it wouldn't matter how well hidden the remnants of humanity were. The dragon would root them out, use his subjects to raise even more destruction. And when he was finished, even the ones that managed to escape his hunts wouldn't survive. And then, perhaps, he would then turn on the titans that followed him as well.

Godzilla was their only chance.

As he entered the tunnel, he found himself becoming distracted by its sheer magnificence. It was hard to imagine how it might have been built, but given its size, it had clearly been made for Godzilla. He wondered how many people had entered this temple. Had Godzilla even been present to see them? Did he even care? At its threshold and up its steps, the architects had carved enclosures that each held statues within them. Each represented strange creatures. Although the style was a little different, he recognized them as Sumerian in origin. The figures were spirits of protection and guidance. Some said they represented the natural order. Whoever built this place seemed to have hoped it would provide the titan solitude, a place safe from the fighting and bloodshed on the surface.

Serizawa found them comforting, encouraging even. Although they couldn't protect him, he could use all the guidance they could offer.

Sweat was pouring from him now, the interior of the sub was unbearable but it wasn't enough to kill him. Not yet.

As he passed the last of the stone guardians, he knew he was past the point of no return. He could already feel his skin buzzing from the radiation, and he knew if he turned back now he would only spend the rest of his shortened life in pain. He had seen people succumb to radiation poisoning. It was no way to die.

As he approached the foot of the long stretch of steps in the temple, the light ahead grew brighter, almost like a sunrise. He was doing the right thing, he could feel it. But he was still human, and that part of him was terrified.

The sub broke the surface of the water at last, and as he surfaced it sparked and sputtered, dying at the shore of the cavern. As he climbed out, bones aching, he found himself surrounded by majesty. The drone's video had not done this place - the palace of a god - justice. Never in his life had he seen something quite like this, and he knew that not many people would. He allowed himself a moment, paralyzed with wonder, letting his eyes drink it all in before his sight would start to fail him. Looking at all of it surrounding him, Serizawa felt small. But in that single moment - the disorientation, the nausea, the pain - all of it disappeared, and his head was right.

He continued on, and as he walked he found that part of the cavern seemed to be natural, but the handprint of humanity was everywhere. Sacred carvings, glyph-covered monoliths, temples, statues - the prototype of civilization all laid out before him. It was fitting, this amalgamation of man and nature, as fitting as the relationship it signified between man and...

Godzilla lay upon a stone platform in the heart of the temple, at the top of a very long, very broad staircase. Rivers of molten lava sprayed up around him, some falling behind him in massive flows. The glow almost gave him an ethereal look.

Taking the first step on that staircase, Serizawa felt the presence of hallowed ground, that sense of being a part of something far bigger than you could comprehend. So many years of his life had been spent searching for him, from carrying on his father's work to finding his own place in the world. And over the years, he had come to understand more and more about Godzilla's irreplaceable purpose, and his own. A purpose he was fulfilling now. Looking up at the staircase, at the pulsing light that shrouded it in a ghostly veil, it felt like ascending to the afterlife.

And Serizawa found that he was no longer afraid to die.

Carrying the bomb in its case, he started up the stairs. He had only managed to take a handful of steps and already he was beginning to feel his limbs tremble, his vision blurring. Putting one foot in front of the other had become a herculean task. Feeling the darkness closing around his sight, the bomb feeling heavier in his arms, he took a deep breath. He had to keep a calm mind, and in the back of his mind, he remembered an old Babylonian poem.

_Goodbye old friend._   
_Your peaceful breath slows,_   
_Your eyes gaze upon your world._   
_I offer to you_   
_My strength._

The lava splashed to the bottom of the cave, and in the encroaching distance Godzilla's scutes broke the flow of the light below.

_Goodbye old friend._   
_My hand reaches forth,_   
_Striving for divinity._   
_I offer to you_   
_My love._

His breathing was getting heavier as the radiation permeated the suit. He stumbled for a moment, tripping over his own feet before getting back up.

_Goodbye old friend._   
_At the steps of your kingdom,_   
_We become one._   
_I offer to you_   
_My life._

When he reached the summit, he did not realize it at first. But then his eyes focused, and he saw Godzilla only a few steps ahead of him. His lungs were burning, and the steam that wafted from the lava was suffocating. With a puff of air from the titan's nostrils, the steam cleared.

Serizawa knelt down, setting the case on the platform and opening the timer. With shaking fingers, he started it. Twenty seconds was all the time he needed.

Feeling around one of the suit's pockets, he took out his pocket watch, looking at it one last time, remembering his father. Suddenly, a vast groan of pain shook the chamber. Serizawa could hardly stand again, but he fought against the ache that covered his body. Using the last of his strength, he removed his helmet.

The air was thick and harsh with burnt stone and water vapor, it was nearly too much, but that was okay.

Up close, Godzilla's wounds were terrible, spanning almost his entire body. His dorsal spines were barely flickering with his signature blue light, but he would heal. And he would fight once again, bringing balance.

Serizawa could barely breathe now, as the slightest movement he took was agony. But looking at Godzilla, he felt some of that strength return. And the titan looked back. He couldn't feel himself move, but Godzilla's form was coming closer to him. Call it a hallucination, call it projecting - call it whatever you like - but as Serizawa came within inches of the titan, there was something intelligent in those eyes. Something so startlingly  _human_. Recognition. Empathy. Heartache.

He stripped off one of his gloves, skin stinging from the contact, and laid a hand on Godzilla's scales.

" _Saraba, tomo yo_." Serizawa closed his eyes.

And then there was light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: the poem at the end is actually the translated lyrics of the song in question; bear mccreary wrote all that in babylonian,,,the absolute madman


	13. A Call to Arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> any hope of subduing it is false,  
> the mere sight of it is overpowering.  
> no one is fierce enough to rouse it.  
> who then is able to stand against me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're getting close to the end, folks!! as it stands, we only got about 3 chapters left,,so as always, thank you sm for reading!!

Jodie and the others weren't sure if Serizawa succeeded.

Not that that was their choice. If they had decided to stick around, the shock wave from the explosion would rip the sub apart. And it still might, as they raced back to the surface.

"Thirty thousand yards until we're outside the convergence zone." the commander said as they raced, or at least floated quickly, away from the underwater city and its fallen god.

She was a bundle of frayed emotions ready to burst, and she couldn't help but think of the worst. What if Serizawa  _hadn't_  done his job? There was just as big of a chance that he might've died before arming the bomb. Hell, the sub might've malfunctioned just like the drones and he was still back there, waiting. Jodie felt her stomach drop. What if there was something in there other than Godzilla, ready to devour anyone that entered?

They couldn't just go back and try again. They had more nukes but no more subs. If Serizawa failed, they were out of options.

But then, just as Jodie was beginning to feel as hopeless as ever, pure light shone through the abyss. She breathed a sigh of relief, but then the reality of what had happened hit her like the wave that was hurtling towards them too fast to register.

"Shock wave incoming -!" the commander shouted.

When it hit them, Gill reflexively grabbed Jodie's hand. She jumped a little, forgetting that they might very die in seconds. She gripped back, letting that familiar warm feeling wash over her.

In the next second it felt like a mountain had landed on her chest as the submarine was suddenly accelerated to speeds it was never meant to withstand. The hull groaned, shrieked, snapped - the metal walls tearing themselves apart from the force. The smell of something burning filled the air as the lights flickered wildly. And even at the rate they were travelling, they were still surrounded by pitch black water.

But in seconds a faint light appeared above them, growing brighter as they hurled toward the surface by the expanding explosion. They broke into the air, tossed up by a jet of water. Jodie's senses were fried, and for a minute she couldn't quite register what was going on around her. For a brief moment, she felt weightless.

And then the sub slammed down on the ocean's surface like a breaching whale, nearly throwing everyone off of their feet from the impact.

As the sub began to steady itself, Jodie took in a breath she hadn't known she was holding. The lights were still a bit jittery, but as a whole, everything seemed as intact as it could be. Glancing down, she realized she was still holding Gill's hand in a vice grip. They didn't let go.

"You okay?" she muttered.

Breathless and wide-eyed, Gill nodded, letting out a shaky laugh.

"Send a distress message to the Argo." the commander said.

_____

Climbing out onto the submarine's upper deck, rain thundered from the dark sky above.

Waves crashed against the sub below them, rocking it beneath Jodie's already unsteady feet. In every direction, all she could see were the restless waves extending to the horizon.

Behind her, one of the soldiers launched a rescue flare. It shot up, burning brightly but its glow was dimmed when it reached the low-hanging clouds. She doubted anyone would be able to see such a feeble light in the midst of Ghidorah's tempest.

Mark looked around them with binoculars, searching for anything that weren't waves. A ship, the Argo, a blue light..

"Anything?" Chen asked over the rain.

He shook his head. Jodie brushed back the damp hair that stuck to her face, the same spiraling thoughts coming back to her. What if the bomb hadn't cured Godzilla? He was in a weakened state, they could've easily killed him. But he had survived nuclear blasts before, right? But that was decades ago, with older weapons. Did Serizawa die for nothing?

As if to quell her mind, the ocean ahead of them began to boil and churn.

Not like the rogue waves that crashed into each other, or an odd crosscurrent, but an explosion of water that was building up, only slower. The sea was being pushed up from beneath by something big.

And then there was a light - not the warm yellow light from the cave or the explosion - an electric blue glow that shone through the waves.

Jagged scutes that could've only belonged to Godzilla emerged like a mountain range, crackling and dancing with energy. His head was the next to breach the surface, rising high above them as waterfalls of seawater fell from his body like curtains. As he continued to rise, tons of displaced water rocked their minuscule craft. Jodie grabbed for the railing as the sub shook.

With a whir, the light from the titan's back shot up his spine - his eyes glowing with his internal fire and shining through the cracks in his scales - as he turned his head toward the heavens. A tower of blue fire erupted from his jaws, stabbing into the dark clouds and igniting them from within. It seemed like an affirmation, a celebration of his sudden recovery - but also a challenge, as the clouds from Ghidorah's storm began to part just ever so slightly.

Maybe no one had seen their rescue flare, but they might've seen his.

Gill let out a winded chuckle as she stumbled back from the force of his ascension, a faint smile appearing on Jodie's face. But then his attention was focused elsewhere - directly at them. The titan's brows knit together, bending down toward them as if noticing their tiny forms for the first time. Jodie held her breath. They must've seemed like ants to him, but nothing in his gaze seemed outwardly threatening despite his intimidating presence. The lizard sniffed the air, sending out a humid puff of air over them.

The sub's commander reached for his sidearm.

"Nobody move!" Mark shouted.

As the titan leaned over them, Jodie became caught in his warm amber eyes, and for a second she swore that he stared back. Like he was trying to say something. And somewhere in the back of her mind she thought he did, or at least a feeling had passed between them. Something that struck deep in her heart.

Godzilla had every right to wipe them off the face of the earth. Not only had they nearly killed him, but they also likely destroyed what he considered his home. And yet, there wasn't that same malicious hostility she had seen in Ghidorah. Annoyance, maybe. But it felt more like a thank-you than anything.

Everything seemed to slow down, the world dropping from beneath her feet until all she could hear was her own breathing, her own heartbeat - and Godzilla's. She had always heard Serizawa, Chen, and Emma talk about the connection between humans and titans, how coexistence was possible between the two. And in that moment, she understood what they meant. What they  _really_  meant.

Out of the corner of her eye she also saw Mark staring up at him. She wasn't sure if he saw what she had, but for the first time since Colorado she didn't see hate in his eyes.

Then Godzilla broke their mutual gaze, leaving them all shaken and amazed, but almost with a sense of clarity. For some strange reason, she knew they were going to be okay.

The titan turned, looking down at them one last time before diving back into the sea, scutes slicing through the waves. As his tail splashed back down, Jodie snapped out of her daze.

"I know how to find them." Mark whispered, turning to Graham.

But before he could clarify, a sonic boom shattered the air. She looked up with dread, expecting to see Rodan or some other flying creature. Or worse: Ghidorah. But instead it was the Argo. It didn't look great - battered with smoke climbing from several places - but to Jodie she had never wanted to see anything more.

As they boarded the craft, Coleman was there to meet them.

He must've seen something in their faces, or maybe he had been counting and realized there was one missing among them. But then she realized Graham had still been clutching Serizawa's notebook in her hands. Those two had rarely been apart, 'two halves of a whole mind' they would always say. Coleman's face fell when everyone gathered on the bridge. Everyone except for Serizawa.

"Let's make him proud and not screw this up." Mark said.

" _God_ , how did he, um -"

"By saving us." Chen said.

"So what's the latest, Sam?" Jodie asked, derailing the conversation when she began to feel a lump in her throat.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Where to start - uh, we think Emma activated the ORCA somewhere near Boston. That's why Ghidorah and Godzilla are headed that way now. But we haven't been able to pinpoint its location without the missing piece of the ORCA signal -"

"I've got the missing piece." Mark said, looking over the waveforms on the screen before him.

Everyone stared at him. Jodie tilted her head. She couldn't see anything different from before.

"It's Godzilla, right?" she said.

"But we already tried that." Coleman said, confused.

"It's not Godzilla," Mark replayed the ORCA's signal, pointing to a specific waveform that appeared on the screen in front of them. "It's us."

"What do you mean 'us'?" Foster asked.

"I'm not sure  _how_  but Emma combined Godzilla's bioacoustics with a human's to create the ORCA's signal." Mark continued.

"The titans must think it's another apex predator, it's  _brilliant_." Graham said.

Stanton pulled out his flask from his vest, unscrewing its top. "Well, we  _are_  a bunch of horny, murderous carnivores."

"Yeah, it's real poetic. Now what?" Foster said.

"We track it, we find it, and we get my daughter back."

After taking a particularly long swig, Stanton gestured at a video feed of Ghidorah's storm. "Great, what about Moe, Larry, and Curly over here?"

"Godzilla will bring balance." Graham with a familiar firmness.

Stanton, already a little tipsy threw her a cheeky look. "Oh, I get it." he said. "A little of Serizawa's old 'let them fight' action. Used to love it when he'd say that."

"No." she said. "This time, we join the fight."

_____

As the Argo sped towards Boston, Jodie stared at the news feeds on the screens in the bridge.

She knew that Emma had turned on the ORCA, but they hadn't told her that it had effectively paralyzed most of the titans. Literally. In nearly every news coverage it all showed the same thing: confused titans Only three were known to still be active - Ghidorah, Rodan, and Mothra. And now Godzilla.

 _Maybe she changed her mind_ , she thought.

After all, she wasn't  _trying_  to kill everyone. It was just a reckless mistake. A mistake that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. And even then, Ghidorah and his pal Rodan were still active. Although the tides  _were_  turning, nowhere was safe with those two still around. Jodie didn't know how to feel.

At the very least, Godzilla was on their side. And Mothra, though, she had reportedly left shortly after they departed in the sub. According to their trackers, she was headed back to her home in China. But according to the twins, she was "covering her bases", whatever that meant. If she decided to make another appearance, it'd be an even match.

But as for the human side of the army, they didn't have much. Only a fraction of their fleet had escaped Ghidorah's wrath, but more aircraft made it out in time, and they were desperately trying to find places to refuel and rearm before rejoining the fight. Jodie could feel it was going to be a big one.

And now that Mark had cracked the ORCA's code, they were able to get a fix on its exact location, which was where they were headed now. With the remainder of their fighting force coming together, they dove headfirst toward a battle with a being wielding power beyond all understanding. But this time, they had a monster of their own leading the way.

_____

Madison was snacking mindlessly on a tasteless food-adjacent bar of  _something_  they had nabbed from the ship when it happened.

Something flashed across her eyes, or maybe it had all been in her head and she just  _thought_  she saw it, but regardless she had seen a bright light. Blinking it away without a second thought, she carried on. But seconds later she had felt an overwhelming pang of remorse, and shortly afterward, gratitude. For what? She found her eyes beginning to tear up but she rubbed it away, confused.

Looking around the room, no one else had seemed out of the ordinary. The Regulator was standing by the door, looking out for any possible intruders, and Elena was sitting in a corner of the room, far from the ORCA and the headpiece. The room suddenly felt a little stuffy.

No longer feeling hungry, Madison put the bar away, choosing instead to observe the evacuation.

"I'll keep an eye out for anything weird." she told Elena. The woman nodded.

Taking a pair of binoculars, she headed up the stairs to the roof of the booth. The sky had shifted from rolling gray clouds to a pale, sickly yellow on the horizon. Gusts of wind mussed her hair and spun stray leaves from the roof. The air felt damp even though it wasn't raining. Something about the entire atmosphere felt prickly. It was cool but now and then a warmer breeze passed through, and the smell of something burning came with it. He was coming, she could feel it. At the very least, the last of the helicopters had left the stadium. Boston had become a ghost town for as far as she could see. There was no one left wandering the streets, no headlights moved between buildings, no honking horns. The sirens had died down. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. But with the ORCA's song still blasting away, she knew the calm wouldn't last before the storm arrived.

Its sound was almost symphonic. It was simple, like a heartbeat. But it sounded different since the first time she heard it in action. Those weirdos had done something to it, something that her parents had never been able to figure out back when it was in its earliest development. She remembered how angry it had made Mothra back at the temple in China, and it had a similar effect on Ghidorah and Rodan. But with the other titans, it seemed to freeze them in their tracks, like their minds weren't capable of differentiating between the alpha frequencies produced by their king and the ORCA. Mothra...she seemed to be safe from Ghidorah's reach. But she hadn't heard from her in a while - at least, she was sure that voice had been her. She wondered if the pupa had already transformed. What did she look like now? With Ghidorah taking out every threat to his rule, she was sure to be in danger. Was she still okay?

She decided not to dwell on it, choosing instead to think of the bigger problem at hand. They had carried out their plan, and while it seemed to be working, this was as far as they thought ahead. Now they just had to play an agonizingly slow waiting game. Maybe she put too much faith in them, but hopefully Monarch would figure out what was going on. Maybe her father would be with them. If that were the case, she would stay here in Fenway. If Elena and the Regulator wanted to take cover, she'd let them. Madison wasn't straying from the ORCA's side if it meant a possible rescue.

But of course, the Controller might come after them instead. They could just as easily detect the signal as well, and though her mom had promised to buy them some time, she could only do so much. And he was probably pretty pissed off if he found out, which he undoubtedly would. If he caught them, she doubted he'd let them off easy. That was a pretty good reason to get lost.

So which was it to be?

After a few minutes of debating, her mind began to wander. That feeling from earlier still hung in the back of her mind. It felt  _really_  familiar. She didn't want to believe it, but she had to know. Shutting her eyes, Madison searched for a connection.

But like her previous tries, there was nothing.

Just an abyss through which she sloshed through black, shallow water. It was still scary, but with Elena not too far away, she felt just a little more at ease. She called out into the void.

 _Was that you? Please, say something - anything_ , she pleaded.  _I know you're not dead, you can't be_.

Somewhere, off in the distance, there was a blue light, glowing and growing in intensity. She didn't have the chance to register where it was coming from before she was submerged in radiant blue.

She felt an odd sense of relief, until she was thrown off her feet, tumbling for a while before landing on something that felt...solid? Madison pressed her hands into the ground, fingers curling around something soft. Sand? Looking around, she found that she was no longer in that dark abyss, but on a beach bathed in a monochromatic blue. Waves crashed on its shore, the water coming up just past her ankle. She stood up.

The only sound she could hear was the ocean, her own breathing, the sound of sand crunching beneath her shoes.

But then she felt something behind her, a light. So she turned around. Just a few feet ahead of her was a wall of scaly flesh, and as her gaze went higher, she saw a leg. And that leg was attached to a torso, and with that torso was a pair of arms that bore claws at least three times her size. It was Godzilla.

His teeth glinted in the dim lighting of the mind-beach, but it wasn't the snarling smirks that Ghidorah usually wore. It was something more genuine, or at least as genuine as a reptilian could be.

_You can't put a dent in me that easily._

Madison smiled.

Somehow, the titan seemed to notice her relief, and with a deep rumble that almost sounded like a bass-boosted purr, he bent down. He kept bending until his snout was mere feet away from her. It reminded her of that moment in China, with Mothra. Only she was more hesitant to reach out to him now.

She hated to admit it, but Godzilla intimidated her. His presence was all-encompassing. And it was hard not to feel microscopic around him. But looking into his eyes, there was a humbleness to him too, something tired and old. It reminded her of her father.

Slowly, Madison outstretched a hand.

Godzilla stared at her with a passive gaze as she grazed his scales. And with a puff of hot air from his nostrils, he stood back up. Everything was going to be okay.

But then something in the atmosphere changed, and Godzilla could sense it too. His scutes flashed in warning, looking nowhere and everywhere.

_You gotta get outta here, kid_

_But what about you? Are you okay?_

With a roar, Madison was expelled from the headspace before she could send another thought through. Like no time had passed at all, she found herself back on the roof. But something was different.

It began with a strange feeling, the prickling in the air becoming so intense it snapped her back to reality in seconds. Then she felt a pressure in her ears, like when you were cruising in an airplane. And shortly afterward, the wind picked up - the flags that swung on the rooftop flapping harder and harder. But in the blink of an eye they stopped - only to start wildly flapping in the opposite direction. She shivered.

In the distance, something was moving. It was hard to focus on at first, but then she realized it was the sky. The yellowed lens of the horizon was gone, replaced by rolling clouds so dark they were almost black. They poured in like fog, squeezing between buildings with increasing speed, engulfing them, brightened by coils of lightning. Thunder clapped all around her, and a strange deep thudding, like a bass-boosted cackle. Or like an animal sound made in the back of a really big throat.

If dad or the Controller were coming for her, they were all beaten out by Ghidorah.

Like an angel of death, dragging the heavens with him, the clouds began to close around the stadium from every direction. Heart banging in her chest, she wanted to move but found herself stuck in place.

"Madison!" a voice called from behind her.

It was Elena, holding the door open and waving for her to come back inside. She didn't think twice as she sprinted behind the door, helping her pull it closed against the increasing wind. The pressure in her ears increased, the floor beneath her feet pulsed, a plastic cup on one of the desks rattled and rolled to the floor. The booth's windows shook as the charcoal-colored fog filled the stadium. The lights flickered, and the ORCA's song bent into a weird warble.

Then she heard the beating of wings. Very large wings.

Madison backed away from the window, letting Elena guide her to the back of the room. She tried to see through the fog and behind the glass, but she couldn't focus on anything. Not that she needed to. He was there, she could feel it. His beating wings grew louder and louder until they weren't, softening until there was silence. She held her breath.

He didn't know where they were, but that didn't stop Ghidorah from slamming down into the arena. The ground cracked beneath the force of his landing, and the entire building shuddered, knocking them all off their feet. Madison lay on the ground, stunned, while Elena and the Regulator were attempting to prop themselves up with their arms. They all huddled under a table, staring out the window in silent fear.

Ghidorah looked agitated, heads whipping around, searching for something. The ORCA had done its trick, the sound from the speakers puzzling him. He thought he was hearing another top predator, possibly Godzilla or some unknown beast that was challenging his authority. And like any tyrant, he had come here to kill his competition and take back his throne. But there was no challenger to beat, just the stadium.

But that didn't stop him. His right head zeroed in on one of the speaker towers, hissing before ripping it from its mount. When the sound didn't stop, he moved to the next set of speakers, and then the next. All three heads worked in tandem, destroying the threat to his power.

Terror had frozen Madison in place. She couldn't think, all she could do was look at him. Elena wasn't any better. She was shaking, a single tear streaking down her face as it looked like she was holding in a scream. Madison could only imagine what Ghidorah was telling her now. She didn't envy her. Madison closed her eyes, trying to focus on anything other than the three-headed horror outside.

"We have to get out of here." Elena whispered.

"But he'll see us -" she whispered back.

Ghidorah's eyes passed over the booth for a brief moment, and Madison almost choked on her own breath.

"He'll know where we are anyway." Elena continued, brows knitting together. "I'm trying to block him out, but he's..he's too strong. I don't know if I can hold him back any longer."

Her comment was punctuated by another rumble, nearly sending them across the room. Breath heaving, Madison turned to the window, shooting the dragon a deadly glare before crawling across the floor just behind the Regulator. But as they began moving, she still heard the ORCA's hum from across the room. Now that the outside speakers were dead, the only source of the signal was a mere foot away from them.

"Wait," she said, reaching for the ORCA from under the table.

Her arms couldn't quite reach, but from beside her, a pair of hands extended forward, picking it up as quietly as possible. Crouching low, they tip-toed toward the exit only to turn around, feeling eyes behind them. Turning around felt like wading through water, but just as she expected, all three heads crowded up behind the window. Glaring at Elena before passing over Madison herself. The middle head's eyes squinted in an insidious leer.  _Gotcha_.

"Oh shit."

Ghidorah reared back, an ear-splitting shriek erupting from his jaws as golden lightning flared through his teeth. They sprinted for the door, the Regulator ushering them through as the windows shattered behind them. Miraculously, it had missed them all, instead frying every piece of equipment within the room. Even then Madison could feel the prickle of electricity dance along her skin. But it didn't stop there - the lightning followed them as they ran, disintegrating what was left of the broadcasting booth as if it were nothing. As she ran, she felt the lightning's heat seep into her bones, it was almost painful, but there was no time to stop. She screamed, the sound barely audible over the cacophony.

They flew down the stairs, taking two or three at a time as Ghidorah ravaged the rest of the stadium, blasting it with his lightning, slashing it with his tails, ripping out chunks of it with his steel-toothed jaws. He was desperate to find them, his new top predators, titans clocking in at something equivalent to an ant. It would've been funny if they weren't about to die.

Then the stairs ahead of them disintegrated in another blaze of lightning, Elena nearly tripping forward had she not grabbed her arm and tugged her backward. They swerved into a row of seats, a spiked tail sweeping just behind them. Everything slowed as the stadium began to collapse in on itself. Madison found herself falling more than she ran the last several yards, tumbling out onto the field itself.

Elena was still grasping the ORCA in her arms, the Regulator helping Madison up from having scuffed her knee on a piece of rubble.

The stadium's exit was right there, less than a yard away. It would've been so easy to just sprint out of sight, duck into another building and hope for the best. But Ghidorah was there waiting for them, all three heads swiveling to focus on each of their three faces. The dragon's heads wore a sadistic grin, teeth glinting in the dim lighting. The malevolence she had seen in each of their eyes was still there, multiplied by a hundred. Only this time it was directed at them, and them alone.

Ghidorah trilled, but to Madison, all she heard was awful laughter.


	14. The Longest Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the arrogance of man  
> is thinking nature is in our control,  
> and not the other way around.  
> let them fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOO BOY so here it is,,the Big Fight  
> just a warning, this chapter is clocking in at close to 12k+ words so get yourself comfortable and make a snack or something bc this mf is LONG

Madison was paralyzed, trapped in Ghidorah's gaze.

He smelled like fried wires and the sky just before a thunderstorm. Something like batteries gathered in her throat. His entire presence was suffocating. She wondered how Elena could handle it.

It couldn't end here. Not now, not when she had come so far. Their only chance at survival was to get rid of the ORCA - for good. If she held onto the machine, the dragon would crush her -  _all_  of them. Maybe if they gave it up to him, they'd have a chance to escape. But there was also a chance it would cause the rest of the titans to fall back under his spell once more, but it was a chance she felt she was forced to take. The hope that Monarch had made good use of the time they'd try to buy them was the only thing reassuring her.

"Elena," she said, not breaking eye contact with the monster. "Throw it."

Elena hadn't moved. Looking over at her, she looked paralyzed, eyes wide with terror and glued directly at Ghidorah. She wasn't sure if it was due to the rain or fear, but she was shaking. Madison shook her arm.

"Snap out of it, you need to get rid of the ORCA!"

Elena could barely feel the girl's attempts at rousing her from her daze. All the woman could see was a sprawling yellow void, suspended among nothing but golden clouds. Ghidorah hovered before her, lightning crackling around his body as all heads zeroed in on her.

_We tried not to hold it against you,_

_but you really are a nuisance._

_You were a waste of a Speaker_

_You think I asked to be connected to a giant egomaniac?_

_Oh, cry me a river._

_This would be much easier for us if you stopped fighting._

_It's not like there's anyone that can help you_

_What's the point of all this anyway? What could you possibly gain from any of this?_

_A tiny thing like you couldn't understand_

_Try me_

Not seeing any response from Elena, Madison's face scrunched together in frustration, tugging the ORCA from her hands. That seemed to snap her out of it, but at that same moment, the crackling of Ghidorah's internal light sparked above them, and immediately she tossed it as far as she could. The ORCA landed in a pile of rubble right in front of his massive talons. One of his heads broke their fixed gaze, looking down and considering it for a moment with an irritated glare before bringing his foot down. The ORCA stopped its hum.

She hoped that was good enough, that that would sate his anger.

But it didn't. Signal or no signal, he knew Elena. He knew them all now, their faces burned into his collective memory. Hell, he probably knew who she and the Regulator were since Antarctica. If Madison's connection to Godzilla wasn't enough for him to deal with, Elena had pestered him one time too many. All three heads focused on their forms, lazily moving forward on serpentine necks like they were in no rush to destroy them. He was studying them, trying to figure out how they had done it, how such tiny creatures could have caused the collapse of his whole kingdom.

Madison wanted to run, but there was nowhere else for her to go. This was it. The lightning rippled up his body, splitting into three different pathways as it traveled up his necks and he began opening his mouths. The crackling energy was nearly spilling through his teeth.

Bracing for the end, she felt a hand grasp hers.

It was Elena. And for the first time being around the three-headed dragon - rain whipping around her, thunder and lightning splitting the sky open - she did not look afraid. Ghidorah didn't seem too happy about that, and each of his heads shrieked like three banshees.

But standing with Elena, Godzilla's presence somewhere in the back of her mind, Madison did not feel small. Something gathered in her heart, something defiant - primal. And staring straight into the Golden Demise's eyes, she screamed with all the fury of a titan.

Madison knew that that was likely her last action as a not-pile-of-ashes, and she didn't feel a shred of regret over it. Hands curling into fists, she braced for the end. Until suddenly, from behind them, a beam of blue energy knocked Ghidorah back and through the stadium wall, the force sending him skidding across the street and into a building.

They all stood there for a moment, staring at the fallen monster, confused and awestruck of the power that had sent him tumbling. Then the ground began to shake beneath their feet, rhythmic footsteps coming ever closer.

And then there was the roar.

 _Am I late?_ Godzilla's thoughts rippled through her mind.

Madison turned around, eyes blinking through the rain and hair that now plastered her face. She grinned, feeling a sudden, savage glee.

 _Go kick his ass_ , she thought.

 _Don't need to tell me twice, little titan_ , he replied.

And better yet, he wasn't alone. As he waded through the harbor and past the buildings around him, he was accompanied by a cavalry of jets and ships whizzing past him in droves. Only they weren't shooting at him. It almost looked like he was leading them, like they had all come together for a common purpose: fighting the Golden Demise.

She felt something tug at her heart, something exciting. It was the best part of her mother's vision come to life, humans and titans working together.

Only - out of pure bad luck - they had been caught right in the middle of the oncoming chaos. A battleground straight out of some ancient apocalypse. And the only thing that filled her mind was a single thought.

Run.

_____

The Argo, guided by an onslaught of Ospreys, followed Godzilla as he stomped his way through Boston, flattening cars and crashing through buildings as if they were nothing but cardboard boxes.

Jodie peered out of the large window and at the city, or what she could see of it. Most of it was blanketed in a dense fog that spilled over the tops of buildings and through the streets. Toward the front of the control room, she saw Graham pull Serizawa's notebook out of her pocket, flipping it open. She had already lost count of how many times the doctor had run through that same motion during the flight. She couldn't blame her. Looking at the old and worn notebook, it felt like Serizawa was with them too. She wished with all her heart that he had lived to see this, the vindication of his vision: Godzilla and humanity coming together to fight against a common enemy, trying to make things right. To know that his sacrifice had not been in vain.

And thanks to Mark's discovery, they had managed to track the ORCA's signal to Fenway Park. Emma must have been using its loudspeakers to boost the signal. Evidently, it had worked. Maybe a little too well, as it had brought Ghidorah straight to Boston. The signal had cut out just moments ago, and Jodie could only think of the worst. Ghidorah must have reached the stadium. Were Emma and Madison still there? Or did they have the common sense to cut it off and get the hell out of there before it was too late? But that also begged another question. Were the extremists with them?

But they were just the start of her worries. Through the seething clouds and lightning, Godzilla and Ghidorah were nothing but black silhouettes against a background of destruction. Ghidorah stood his ground as Godzilla charged toward him, roaring so loudly windows on nearby buildings shattered from its intensity. Ghidorah responded, all three of his heads trilling with anger as they smoothly galloped toward the lizard, quickly gaining speed. This was about to get brutal, and if San Francisco had been of any indication, not much of Boston was likely to survive it.

"Okay, we've zeroed in on the last ping from the ORCA. Fenway park, dead ahead. We'll lay cover fire to keep Ghidorah distracted." he turned to Jodie. "Good luck out there."

She nodded. Jodie, Mark and the rest of G-Team headed to the Argo's hangar for one of the few remaining Ospreys. Graham closed the notebook.

 _This is it_ , Jodie thought. The last stand. If Ghidorah won, this time they were done for sure. There weren't enough ships and aircraft in the world that could challenge him. And to make matters worse, seconds after the ORCA signal cut out, the titans they still had tracking information on began moving again. Moving toward Boston. They had to put Ghidorah down before his reinforcements arrived. Just five years ago, Godzilla had managed to take down two MUTOs, but he had nearly died doing so. But up against twelve, thirteen, maybe more titans all at once?

His chances were looking slim.

Godzilla was already closing in on his ancient rival, and what remained of their aircraft were about to engage, and the ships were readying their long-range canons. And Godzilla, he seemed..brighter. In every sense of the word. The pulses from his scutes grew more radiant every second, shining up and down in a similar manner to his intimidation display. And his skin was shining in the moonlight too. He looked more powerful than the last time she had seen him. A lot more powerful.

"Well he's looking lively." she commented.

"Is it just me," Sam asked. "Or has he been working out?"

"You kidding me?" Stanton replied. "Serizawa got that lizard  _juiced_."

"Damn right." Foster said.

"Colonel," one of the bridge officers said. "All squadrons are locked on target."

Foster, Chen and Graham exchanged glances, and then turned their collective gazes out at Ghidorah. Jodie knew exactly how they felt. It was hard to get her to hate any creature, but she felt nothing but contempt for that three-headed monstrosity. Her mind flashed back to the sea full of wreckage, the hundreds -  _thousands_  - of people that had already died trying to stop this unholy thing.

With an austere gaze, Graham stared at the oncoming battle. "For Serizawa."

A hundred trails of fire scorched across the sky.

_____

Nearly every missile that had been dropped was a direct hit.

Ghidorah shrieked in irritation, shielding himself from the oncoming fire with one of his wings. Elena's neck strained from looking up at the sky, rain still pelting her face and gluing long strands of hair across her face. At least a dozen jets were whizzing right above them, dropping all they had on the golden dragon right in front of them.

Each of his three heads broke through the smoke and fog, zeroing in on the mountainous lizard as they charged at each other. As the titans collided, the resulting shock wave of their massive bodies slamming together shook the ground.

Taking Madison's hand and pulling at the Regulator's shoulder, they ran.

That quiet moment in the stadium's booth, looking out the window into an abandoned city, seemed an eternity ago. Boston had turned into a warzone, a battle between the gods.

Everything around her was burning - bricks and steel rained from the sky. Even running as fast as she could, they still hadn't managed to get out of the combat zone. The titans were just too big. She felt like an insect scrambling to get out from underfoot of a couple of wrestlers. For every hundred feet they covered, the titans could cover that distance in a single step. She was afraid that they would, but they didn't even notice her anymore, but that didn't matter. The missiles and jets didn't know they were there either, all of those rounds they were shooting at Ghidorah were also raining down all around her.

One of the dragon's tails sliced through a skyscraper as he stumbled backward, ripping through its steel-beam skeleton as if it were paper, spraying a curtain of debris down at them. They desperately weaved their way through it, Madison shrieking as a piece of rubble connected with her arm. It was quickly becoming harder to dodge it all - frantically falling, rolling, springing back to their feet as the earth beneath them shook with each footstep from the titans not too far away.

Every direction around them seemed closed off by either the titans themselves or mountains of ruin, and the fight was about to roll right over them. Again.

Suddenly, there was a roar from something that wasn't a giant monster. Elena's gaze was drawn to the sky. A giant aircraft broke through the clouds, and for a moment she thought it was the Controller, until she saw that it was a flat craft rather than spherical, complete with a Monarch logo emblazoned on its side. She chuckled in disbelief. As the craft shot by, it spattered Ghidorah with missiles, driving him away from them.

That seemed like a good thing to her at first, but she could feel a panic setting in, and looking down at the girl trembling in her arms she could tell that it had taken over her as well. They had made it out of too many near misses, and luck couldn't keep them safe for long. At any second they could be under falling chunks of building, or a missile that missed its mark. Not even the Speaker's Connection could keep them from accidentally getting squashed like a bug.

Madison could feel herself starting to hyperventilate, despite trying to control her breathing. She was shivering, the cold from the rain and the adrenaline running through her veins taking hold of the most primitive part of her mind.  _Run. Hide. Keep running. Don't stop moving until you're out of the crossfire_. But there was no safe zone, not for miles. As she let herself be pushed and pulled by Elena and the Regulator, she kept remembering Andrew, how he had looked when they found him. They needed to get somewhere safe. Fast.

Fighting to keep the air from running out of her lungs, she tugged on Elena's arm.

"O-Over - Over here." she struggled to push the words out of her mouth, but hopefully the woman had been able to hear her.

Together, the trio ran on.

_____

Mere yards outside of the Osprey, Godzilla wrestled with the three-headed monster.

Jodie watched as Ghidorah crackled with energy, charging up for another shot of yellow lightning. Countless missiles speared past them, their warheads opening on the dragon like flowers. He flinched back, Godzilla slamming into him head-on once again. Ghidorah was getting pummeled, wings splaying out to keep his balance. Their roars mixed together in one loud cry as Godzilla took one of his heads in his claws, ruthlessly tugging it down and slamming it into the ground below them.

"Hang on!" the pilot yelled as she weaved past Ghidorah's flailing tails, banking hard to avoid the flaming remains of missiles and fallen aircraft.

Blood rushed to Jodie's head, and every organ in her body did somersaults. The Osprey was almost on its side, and the window she had found herself pressed against was facing the flaming city below. She swallowed a scream as Griffin got them clear from the titan and righted the vessel, bringing them back around to a view of the fight as Godzilla impaled Ghidorah's tails with his dorsal spines. All three heads shrieked in pain. Griffin circled the Osprey around the brawl, dropping toward what was left of the stadium.

"Whoa," Jodie observed, catching her breath. "Dude's lit up like a Christmas tree."

Through the smoke, Mark followed her gaze. Godzilla was pulsing with a fiery orange light, the air around him distorting with heat waves. It was faint, and every now and then it would be drained out by his regular blue light, but something about the colorful display put a jolt of dread in her heart. That was definitely new. To Jodie's knowledge, nothing like this had ever been observed.

Jodie turned on the handheld radio at her side.

"Stanton, are you guys seeing this?"

"Oh we're seeing it," Stanton said. "But definitely not liking it."

There was a pause. Jodie could almost see him going over the readings on his screen. Suddenly, the Osprey's speakers crackled and Stanton's voice sounded through the whole craft.

"Godzilla's radiation levels are going through the roof. We've got about twelve minutes before he goes thermonuclear."

"What do you mean?" Jodie called over the noise outside.

The Osprey shook as thunder and lightning sounded around them.

"I'm sayin' in about twelve minutes it's gonna be a bad day to be a Red Sox fan."

Coleman's voice took over the radio. "Okay guys, you need to find the ORCA, grab Madison and get the hell out of there. Whatever Serizawa did to Godzilla worked a little too well, because he's about to explode like an atom bomb."

As if their time wasn't already limited enough. Mark looked around the Osprey with furrowed brows. Outside, the Boston skyline was burning, and the two titans were still going at it as hard as their bodies could allow. Jodie took in a deep breath.

"Roger that," Barnes answered. "Prepare for landing."

Mark moved to the front of the Osprey, Jodie following. The red glow around them made everything feel even more hellish than it already was, what with Ghidorah and Godzilla's roars bellowing just outside like heralds of doom. Her heart was hammering in her chest as the craft dropped down. Behind her, Martinez crossed himself, Barnes closing his eyes in a silent prayer. The others - men and women she didn't even know the names of - were steeling themselves as they prepared to run out in a prehistoric battleground. Preparing to die, if that's what was coming. And looking around at the chaos surrounding them, it seemed a fair guess that some or all of them would. Jodie felt a lump gather in her throat.

"You didn't have to come with me, y'know." Mark said.

"And what, miss out on all the fun?" she said sardonically.

Truthfully, she knew that she could've stayed aboard the Argo without a problem. And a part of her wanted to go back, even if it was too late for second thoughts. But after all this time, she had survived the impossible. Maybe she could share some of that luck with the people around her, as ridiculous as that sounded. Jodie had always been just a little superstitious.

In that moment the Osprey bumped down onto the ruined field at Fenway Park, and one by one the soldiers marched out. But Ghidorah's golden lightning struck, and the first two out the door were incinerated, their lives cut short in less than a heartbeat. Jodie swallowed a shriek. It was beyond horrifying, but the others ahead of her piled out anyway, Jodie were right behind them. Mark leaped out of the Osprey, nearly tripping over the rubble that covered the field.

Jodie had only been to Boston once or twice, but even now Fenway Park was near unrecognizable. Much of the stadium was torn to shreds, walls caving in and benches hanging on by steel threads. Next to her, Mark was staring at what was most likely the broadcasting booth, or at least where it should have been. Emma and Madison must've found a way to patch the ORCA into its sound system, but it seemed that Ghidorah had figured that out too.

The solider's flashlights barely cut through the fog and floating debris, but even then she still saw one of Ghidorah's talons land right ahead of her with an earth-shaking thud. Her gaze trailed upward, and right next to them Godzilla was swatting away the heads that lurched forward, jaws persistently snapping at the lizard. With a sneer, Godzilla spun around, tail roughly slamming into Ghidorah's side as the dragon stumbled off balance. Yet another building went down with them.

Mark and Jodie both called out Madison and Emma's names, but the sound barely carried over the fight just yards away. Behind them, one of Ghidorah's heads became trapped underneath Godzilla's clawed foot, jaws snapping desperately as his windpipe was being crushed with every second the lizard stood firm.

Jodie stopped to cough something nasty, the smoke in the air stinging her lungs. There had been nothing resembling an answer thus far, only G-Team moving around them, searching the debris. Other than themselves, Jodie didn't see anyone else - living or dead.

As they fanned their search, Godzilla and Ghidorah's fight was just getting started. Jagged streaks of lightning surged all around them, along with a flaming meteor storm of fallen aircraft. The smell of burning jet fuel filled the air.

 _They're not here_ , she thought.  _What if they were never here? Emma might've come by herself, maybe she left the kid somewhere safe_.

But they couldn't stop looking now. If they weren't here, where else could they look? Their options were slim, and this was the best - the  _only_  lead they had. There was a chance they had made it to a nearby bunker but Monarch had already sent a squad to scope that out.

Her train of thought stopped when she suddenly felt an odd, mechanical crunch under her shoes. She looked down, eyes widening when she saw what it was.

The ORCA lay inches beyond the edge of the field of debris, crushed into the contours of a giant foot. And it wasn't looking too hot.

"Over here!" she shouted from across the stadium.

Mark and one of the soldiers rushed over to his side, fearing the worst. But as they got closer, just ahead of them was an explosion, sending Mark flying to the ground. Jodie pulled the ORCA from the rubble, running toward them the rest of the way. Mark looked confused as she approached them, head tilting just slightly when he saw the jumbled piece of  _something_  in her arms.

"It's not your daughter, but.." Jodie said, voice trailing off as she handed the machine over to Mark.

He turned it over in his hands, studying it. Attached to its side by a frayed wire was what looked like a headpiece. And while the whole thing was pretty banged up and singed, it wasn't completely destroyed.

Jodie's eyes narrowed as she looked at it, questioning. If Emma had hooked it up to the stadium and taken off, what was it doing down here? If anything, it should've been in the smoking hole where the broadcast booth was. Something wasn't adding up, and it made her uneasy.

But there was no time to think further when the ground rumbled again, smoke suddenly surging up from beneath them. Godzilla and Ghidorah were above them, still locked in battle. The lizard swatted the dragon's incessant necks as they tried gaining any purchase on the titan. With a push, Ghidorah stumbled back, but then the middle head reared backward, springing forth like a coiled snake and sinking his jaws into Godzilla's neck. As Godzilla was about to rip the center head from his throat, the other two heads at his side sprung forward as well. The right head followed, pinning Godzilla's left shoulder, and then the left head, pinning his right arm. The titan let out of a groan of pain as Ghidorah pushed down with all his strength.

"We gotta go!" Barnes yelled, suddenly coming up from behind them as he pushed them away from the brawl.

The titans were stumbling their way, fast.

Jodie felt one of the soldiers grab her, hustling her toward the Osprey. But before they could get any more than a few feet, one of Ghidorah's talons stomped down on the aircraft. It exploded, sending them all reeling back and adding to the mass of flames that already surrounded them. Jodie felt a piece of debris cut across her cheek.

Squinting, trying to push herself up from the ground, she saw Ghidorah hover a few meters above the ground, wings flapping slowly as Godzilla continued to struggle, jaws twisted open in a continuous cry of pain. Then the dragon slammed him back to the ground, pushing him forward into another street, the pavement below them shooting up like crumbs. The titan's cries stopped, Godzilla rearing up and blasting Ghidorah with his atomic breath, knocking the dragon right back toward them.

 _So much for luc_ k, she thought.

But in that moment, Ghidorah skidded to a stop, the center head drawing away from the fire that poured over his chest and toward the sky. The right head followed his gaze. And then the left.

There was a light in the sky, breaking through the thick cover of clouds. It looked like a sun, but amidst the chaos Jodie heard a familiar song.

Bursting down from above was an unmistakable blue radiance, followed by broad oval-shaped wings that swept back. A pair of amber eye markings glowed at its ends, and for a brief moment Jodie was reminded of Godzilla's eyes.

With a sonic boom of melodious cries, Mothra dove into Ghidorah like a hawk diving down on a snake. As she swung past the dragon, webbing jetted from her jaws, stopping Ghidorah mid-fall and sticking all three of his heads to a skyscraper.

As Mothra gathered speed, what sounded like a teasing laugh chittered from her mandibles as she watched Ghidorah's right head break free. He glared at her with hatred in his eyes as he tried desperately to tear through the webbing that still trapped his struggling brothers. But suddenly, he stopped, seeing Godzilla's reflection rapidly approaching through the building's glass windows. He turned around and trilled in defiance as Godzilla plowed into him, knocking them both clean through the building. Godzilla looked down at the fallen dragon with a reptilian smirk, cheekily huffing out a hot puff of hair. Mothra joined him, swooping back in for the finishing blow.

Ghidorah trilled, not in defeat, but something just as desperate. He was calling for something.

Pulling her wings close together as she dove, she reared up her pointed limbs, preparing to attack. But before she could get any closer, a low roar came out of seemingly nowhere - it was Rodan, bursting from the clouds as a trail of fire sprinkled from the tips of his wings. Mothra cried out in shock, having no time to counter the surprise jump. Like some ancient, vengeful god, he speared straight for her, abruptly tearing her from her flight path. Half-molten wings folded back, he struck her like a meteor, wrapping her in the furnace of his wings. She shrilled in agony as the soft down on her body caught fire. They were a tangle of limbs before Mothra tore at him with her claws, the two of them soaring into buildings. With a push, she broke free, dodging Rodan's beak as he snapped at her.

Glancing back at Godzilla, still trying to keep Ghidorah on the ground, Mothra steeled herself. Once again, she slammed into Rodan, the two spiraling downward. Ghidorah was already a handful, and she had to keep the fiery bird distracted, whatever it took.

Finally, Jodie, Mark and the G-Team were alone on the field. Or what was left of them. Still reeling from the sudden spike in action, Jodie took a head count. Besides Mark, there wasn't much left of G-Team besides Barnes, Martinez and Griffin. And Griffin looked hurt. The rest of the team was just gone without a trace.

And with the Osprey gone, she didn't have a lot of hope that they would fare any better. Flames and steam jetted from the ground, as if the rain of debris wasn't enough. Barnes and Martinez helped Griffin to her feet with gritted teeth, eyes wrenched shut in pain. They had no choice but to walk. But where? The stadium was an inferno with them in the middle, columns of fire licking at the sky. Any direction they went would end with them in torches, but they had to do something. Fast. Maybe there was a weak point in the wall of fire, they could run through it. But Griffin's leg..

But then, out of nowhere, something burst from through the other side of the flames.

It was a banged up jeep that had definitely seen better days, and at the wheel was Emma Russell.

"Get in!" she yelled.

No one moved. Jodie and the others exchanged suspicious glances. She didn't blame them. As much as she wanted to trust her, to believe that she had a change of heart, she was the one that caused all this. Just as Mark was about to open his mouth to say something in response until Mothra and Rodan - whos limbs were still locked together as they rolled through the air - knocked a jet out of the sky. It crashed directly behind them, the resulting explosion sending a hail of debris their way.

" _GET IN_!" she repeated.

That definitely ended their hesitation in an instant, as all of them jumbled into the car, Mark taking the passenger's seat with the ORCA still in his hand. Jodie folded herself into the trunk as the remnants of G-Team packed together in the back seat. It was an uncomfortable fit, but now wasn't the time to be picky.

In the muffled shelter the car provided, Jodie felt her heart hammering in her ears. She was still unsure that this was all happening, and not the last hallucination of someone currently dying in the rubble. But dream or reality, they still had a mission to carry out.

"Where's Madison?" Mark asked.

"I don't know, I thought she was there!" Emma replied. Jodie's heart sunk.

Above them, a chunk of aircraft crashed into a building, sending another wave of debris hurtling their way. Emma swerved sharply to avoid it, the side of Jodie's head roughly connecting with the back of the car. She grit her teeth, rubbing away the dull pain. That was gonna bruise.

"Well, she's not there!" Mark yelled.

Emma swerved again, avoiding a chunk of building blocking more than half of the road. Griffin held in a scream as her injured leg hit the back of the driver's seat.

"Jesus, take it easy!" Barnes shouted as he tried to put as much pressure on the bleeding wound as he could.

"Here -" Jodie unbuckled the thin belt from her pants, shoving it into Martinez's hands. With a silent nod of thanks, he wrapped it around her leg, fashioning a makeshift tourniquet.

"Look out!" Mark shouted.

In that same moment, Mothra and Rodan came barreling between the buildings that framed the street, knocking a helicopter out of the air as it spun out of control, exploding on the ground. Emma took a sharp turn, wheels skidding over a sidewalk.

"I hope you're as good at finding her as you are losing her." Mark continued.

"I didn't lose her - she ran away!"

"Gee, I wonder why -"

" _Oh_ , don't even start."

"Don't start? You tried to kill me!"

As they continued bickering, Jodie exhaled, pushing the still damp curls away from her face in frustration.

"Can't blame the kid, if I had these two for parents I'd run away from home too." she said to herself.

Emma slammed on the breaks.

"What did you say?" she demanded.

Jodie bristled.

"She said, if I had the two of you for parents I'd run away from home too!" Barnes shouted. "And she's right." he muttered.

Peeking over the backseat, Jodie saw Emma turn to Mark, a look of revelation growing on their faces.

" _Home_." they both said at once.

Emma stepped on the gas.

_____

Madison couldn't stop crying.

With every step she took, hand wrenched around Elena's, her panic threatened to strangle off her composure. While Mothra's entrance had caused a wave of relief to wash over her, they had both seldom spoken to her during the fight. She could feel that they didn't want her to worry, but that was just the problem.

She could  _feel_  them.

Their worry, their relief, their anger, their hurt - Madison could feel it all coursing through her mind. And it was too much.

She had felt brave when she left the Controller's ship, and she'd felt brave when she brought Ghidorah to Fenway. Determination ran through her blood when Godzilla breached ashore, beginning the battle to end all battles. But now it was all too much. Too much death, anger, fear, betrayal. Too many titans.

 _Nothing lasts_ , she thought, as her shoes slapped against the puddles filling the pavement, her heart thudding loud in her ears.  _Nothing. Not mom and dad, not Andrew. Not me. Not Boston. The world is falling apart._

 _Not all is lost young Spe-_  , Mothra spoke before being attacked from above by Rodan once more.

Madison continued to sob.

Boston had always been her happy place, the quiet point in her memory untouched by titans. Where she and her family played bocce on the Common, making up their own rules as they went along. Where her favorite climbing tree had been in her backyard, pretending she was in the middle of an isolated jungle. Even the sushi place around the corner where Andrew always wanted to go to, where he tricked her into eating wasabi by telling her it was green frosting. The zoo, the museums, the boats on the harbor, the library where she had checked out her first book. Boston was where everything had been good.

But that place only existed in her memory now. And looking back on it, the damage had begun when they returned from San Francisco. After the funeral, the fights between her parents started. And even after her father left, it was still her home, a place that they could all come back to. But now, as she and the others fled along Beacon Street, everything around her was being torn down.

She paused.  _Beacon Street_.

Elena skidded to a stop, and for the first time since running from the stadium she let go of her hand. The Regulator doubled back to them after having ran ahead of them.

"Why are we stopping?" Elena called over the chaos.

Madison panted, trying desperately to catch her breath. Miraculously, in the midst of the hellish destruction all around her, her old house was still there. That same little townhouse where she had spent the majority of her short life, just on the edge of the Common. If she could just reach it, despite everything, maybe they'd be okay.

"Home," she sputtered through tired lungs. "It's home."

Walking closer, they all shouted when they heard Ghidorah's shrill cry from behind them. Glancing quickly, she saw him pounce from above on top of Godzilla, a flash of blue travelling up his spine.

 _Don't stop running_ , the titan reminded her.

 _I'll be okay_ , she repeated in her mind.  _We'll all be okay_.

As they finally reached the steps, Madison shrieked as something huge crashed behind them just yards away. An inferno with something writhing within it - wings, claws, insectile legs. It wasn't Godzilla  _or_  Ghidorah. Mothra was dragged across the ground with a flurry of embers flying up around her as she chittered in pain.

 _This isn't like you_ , Mothra said. She sounded faint, distant. As though the statement wasn't directed towards her.

Madison couldn't watch anymore. She couldn't stand to see more destruction. More death.

Elena ushered her inside, feeling the singe of flames licking at her back. Once all of them were inside, she slammed the door shut. Madison found that she couldn't move any further, all the strength draining from her legs. Madison slid down to the floor as the house began to shake.

"Madison?" Elena's voice sounded so far away.

She covered her ears, drawing her knees up to her elbows as she began to feel herself hyperventilate.

 _C'mon kid, don't lose your strength_ , Godzilla's voice echoed at the back of her mind.

But all she could hear were the titan's cries all melding together in a scream that could shatter the heavens. Madison screamed with them.

She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders.

"Hey -  _Hey_ , stay with me!"

Who was she kidding, this place was no safer than anywhere else. It was nothing more than a straw house surrounded by very big wolves. Across the room, old family photos rattled on their shelves. That family in those pictures - like her memories of Boston - only existed in her memory.

Madison could feel her vision start to black out around the edges, the only thing filling her sight were blue and yellow flashing lights filtering from the windows around her.

_____

Elena gathered Madison in her arms.

"Madison -  _chingada madre_  - if you can hear me you have to wake up!"

She didn't respond, instead, a thin trail of blood leaked from her nose. This wasn't good.

With the titans all around them, she remembered the girl mentioning hearing a voice - one that wasn't Godzilla - speaking to her back on the ship. If she was still connected to both all at once, her mind could collapse from the strain. And she wouldn't let that happen, not to someone so young.

Speed-walking toward the Regulator, she motioned to follow her. Without question, she trailed after them.

Elena weaved her way through the house, passing by a wall of family photos. Seeing a younger, happier Madison, she pressed her lips together in a thin line.

"What are you doing?" the Regulator finally spoke up.

"She's stuck." Elena said. "I don't know how she managed to stay like this for so long but she's connected herself to two different titans. Simultaneously."

Finally reaching what she was looking for, she kicked open the door to the bathroom with her leg. The trio poured in as Elena set the girl down into the tub, climbing in after her and she folded her legs close to her body.

"But what about Ghidorah?"

Elena paused, thoughts running through her mind before coming to a determined conclusion. "I have to try."

The Regulator said nothing, only nodding sharply before folding her arms. "I'd say don't do anything stupid, but it's a bit late for that now, is it?"

Elena smiled sadly, letting out a chuff of a chuckle. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

_____

Jodie watched from the back of the car as Godzilla slammed Ghidorah through another building. Between their missiles and a supercharged Godzilla, and Ghidorah not being able to heal as fast as he was being wounded, it looked like they were winning. The dragon looked like he was trying to fight free from Godzilla's wrath and escape again, trying to find some break in the onslaught for him to fly away. But Godzilla stayed one step ahead of him.

Silently, Jodie cheered the big lizard on.

So far, their losses were unthinkable. The fleet, all those pilots, Serizawa - all sacrificed themselves to bring them to  _this_. A single moment that would decide the fate of humanity.

Sure there were other titans out there, but with Godzilla in charge instead of that golden maniac, if things didn't get better, maybe they would at least not get worse.

But Jodie's thoughts were interrupted when just a few streets away, Mothra and Rodan were still battling it out. Locked together in a death spiral, the winged titans crashed into a bridge. It crumpled on impact like cardboard, and fire splashed all around them, setting everything it touched ablaze.

 _Oh no_ , Jodie thought, flinching. Mothra had definitely been ready for a fight, but that had to hurt.

But then she sprang up, finding purchase on Rodan's back and slashed her claws deep into him. The firebird screeched, leaping into the air and slamming his wings down so that both of them careened through another skyscraper and vanished from her line of sight. Flames exploded from inside the building and began to rapidly hail from above. Emma dodged as much as she could, but Jodie could still hear it hammering against the roof of the car.

Behind them, Godzilla continued beating Ghidorah. He seemed to be doing alright even without Mothra's assistance. As he slammed his tail into his side once again, it sent the dragon reeling into an already crumbling building. Ghidorah flapped his wings frantically, managing to pull himself away before Godzilla snapped his jaws shut on a wing, twisting his head like a crocodile as he sent the dragon back to the ground. The resulting shock wave carried smoke and debris for a mile or two, and the car Jodie had folded herself into rattled from the impact.

 _Come on, finish the bastard off, big guy_ , she thought frantically.

Godzilla seemed to have the same thought, roaring out a beam of blue fire against the dragon's back. Ghidorah shrieked in agony. All the while, the dull orange pulsing grew brighter and brighter, mixing with his signature blue glow. As Godzilla's brilliance shone through the smoke, Ghidorah's own golden light had dimmed to a sickly intermittent yellow. He almost looked a little pathetic, flailing against the lizard with nowhere to go.

As Godzilla continued hammering his powerful shoulders against the dragon, Ghidorah was just trying to escape, not even trying to fire a beam of lightning his way. Suddenly, with a hiss, Ghidorah's right head sneered before snaking out, struggling away from his tormenter. For a second Jodie thought that he was trying to separate himself from his body, striking out on his own. And maybe he could. If the dragon could regrow an entire head, then who knew what was possible.

But it quickly became evident to Jodie that that wasn't the dragon's intention.

There was no way to warn Godzilla as Ghidorah's right head zeroed in on a sputtering power plant, showering sparks down onto the street. His maw gaping wide, he bit down on the wires. Godzilla let out a puzzled rumble.

Despite all of the damage, most of Boston and its suburbs still had power. But now, every light around them and as far as her eyes could see strobed, going dark, lighting back up for a brief second, and then dimming again as the power grid struggled to handle the sudden massive drain on the system. Jodie's eyes widened in shock.

Ghidorah blazed back to a full charge, and something like the smell of batteries filled the air. Rising to his full height, wings and heads outspread, his eldritch light began to build in his throats. Then, golden lightning gathered around him and blasted from all three heads. The bolts went wild, branching into the sky as they went from three concentrated beams of energy to a thousand fractal streams of lightning, creating a web of destruction across the sky. Even though they were on the ground, Jodie could smell the burnt air around them.

As the hundreds of branching bolts spread through the sky, jagging through and around the aircraft still somehow intact, the chain reaction continued even after Ghidorah had already subsided, leaping to every possible object in the air. As the energy arced through the sky, pilots were electrocuted and engines were fried, burning down into the city below. Dozens of aircraft were gone in seconds.

There was a flash of gold in front of the car, but at least they were spared of being struck. Jodie took slow, deliberate breaths as she tried to get her pulse to ease up. Toward the front of the car, she could hear a cacophony of curses.

Even Godzilla was knocked from his feet, letting out a cry of shock and pain as he was hurled through the harbor and into a shipyard, stopping himself with a clawed arm that had dug deep into a skyscraper.

Jodie could feel the hair standing on end as she saw the titan catch his breath, looking as tired as she felt. A pang of empathy struck her as she saw a streak smoke off of the side of his face. Though he seemed mostly intact, a long band of raw skin streaked across his left eye.

 _Get up, Godzilla_ , she thought.  _Come on, you can't quit now_.

As if hearing her words, Godzilla clambered back to his feet, almost seeming to sigh as he balanced himself on the remains of buildings next to him. Ghidorah remained standing at his full height, wings outstretched as his heads snapped at Godzilla, taunting him. The worst and largest of gashes across his chest from the lizard was already starting to close up, the holes that had been burned through his wings stitching together. The dragon seemed to celebrate his victorious comeback with another earth-shattering trill, stretching out his wings and taking to the air. He was headed right toward where Godzilla stood, still winded from the electrocution.

The radio still at Jodie's side crackled. She grabbed it, desperately trying to get the connection to hold.

"Are you guys alright up there?" she shouted.

"Wouldn't speak too soon if I were you." Stanton replied. "But you guys definitely won't be if you stay down there for long - Godzilla's radiation's reaching critical mass," he warned. "Six minutes 'till he blows!"

Before the feed on the radio cut off, Jodie could hear Foster's frantic voice. "Order all remaining craft to retre -"

 _That's if there's any left to retreat_ , she thought gravely. She had lost count of all the fallen a while ago. Turning off the radio, she leaned over the back seat.

" _Shit,_ you guys catch that?" she yelled to the front of the car.

"Kinda wish I didn't." Barnes replied.

As Godzilla struggled to catch his second wind, Mothra didn't seem to be faring any better.

Locked in midair, she and Rodan tore at each other viciously as they bowled through the city, smashing through buildings and leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

The car suddenly came to a stop as Mothra was thrown into the building directly in front of them. Her back hit it hard, and with a pained chitter she stayed there for a moment, stunned. And like a flaming arrow, Rodan appeared shortly afterward, pinning her to the building with his wings as his talons sunk deep into its steel foundations. Mothra was badly burned, and she was desperately flailing against the flying reptile's grasp to no avail. Like a ravenous vulture, Rodan began tearing into her wings with his beak. She swiped at his face with her smaller forelimbs, and suddenly Rodan broke off the attack, flying off.

But not far. He was building his speed, and with a strong flap of his wings he dove. Mothra climbed to the top of the skyscraper, weakly trying to move herself out of the way. But Rodan was far faster. Smashing into her once more, he snapped at her head. Mothra braced against the building, trying her best to squirm out of the way. Again and again, he tried but to no avail. Until, finally, he seemed to find his aim - until he suddenly froze in place, a frail screech spilling from his beak.

Groaning in agony, he glanced down, looking at the stinger lodged in his shoulder. He reared back, trying to fight free of Mothra's grasp but he couldn't. Her stinger was buried deep, all the way up to her thorax.

They both hung there for a moment, Mothra's eyes seeming to search Rodan's for  _something_  - if that were even possible. But then his thrashing weakened, and his flames dimmed. Retracting her stinger, the open wound glowed like cooling lava as the flying reptile slipped away. He fell, vanishing into the smoke he'd ignited with an agonizing screech. As he landed to the ground with a thud, lifting the car a foot into the air for a brief moment, his eyes rolled back. He was still breathing, but he wasn't about to rejoin the fight anytime soon.

Back ahead of them, Jodie saw Mothra clinging to the toppled building, trembling as her bioluminescence started to fade. She took a weak step, trying to push herself back into the air only to slip. She let out a frail cry. She sounded like she was in pain, like she was afraid. Instead of taking to the air, she sat there, gathering what little strength she had left. She had defeated Rodan, but it didn't look like she had much longer herself.

After what felt like an eternity, the jeep roared up Beacon Street, swerving around the burning carcasses of aircraft and piles of buildings. Through the chaos, Jodie caught occasional glimpses of places that had survived the fight. A small corner store was untouched, and a coffee shop was somehow still recognizable, even though the fire caused by Rodan and Mothra's fight would likely soon consume it just like the trees that had now become torches.

"It's just up ahead!" Mark called.

Through the smoke, he and Emma searched for their old home. Finally, she slammed on the breaks, Jodie having to brace herself before she slammed against the back seat again. Looking out the window, all relief that Jodie had drained from her body.

What was probably a house in the recent past had now collapsed into a smoking pile of rubble. Off in the distance, the white noise of titans fighting, planes crashing, and ships sinking made her ears ring as she exited the car with the others. If the kid had really been in there..she stopped her mind from going any farther.

"Madison!" Mark shouted, leaping from the car and diving straight into the ruins of his old home, tossing aside bricks and smoldering planks.

"Maddie!" Emma joined him, a ragged desperation evident in every movement in her body.

Jodie and the rest of G-Team filed out into the ruins, calling after the lost child as they pushed aside the wreckage. Jodie hands began to sting, coughing as sweat and smoke stung every inch of her body. A weird, acrid scent drifted on the breeze, and off in the distance something exploded.

Suddenly, like a cicada bursting from the ground after its long sleep, a pale arm sprouted from underneath a pile of rubble.

There was a weak coughing and what sounded like a voice calling for help. The arm limply tried to push the wall of debris away but not finding the strength to do so. Mark called after Emma as everyone converged on the spot. Lifting away the broken off piece of a wall, they uncovered a body alright.

But it wasn't Madison.

 _I thought they evacuated the city_ , Jodie thought in confusion, staring at the blonde woman that struggled to stand. Emma helped her up, roughly grabbing her arm.

" _Where are they_?" she said, anger evident in her voice.

They?

Coughing, the blonde woman pointed behind her. It was a broken bathtub, and beneath the pile of rubble that covered it was a small, pallid hand. On the count of three, they all lifted the wall from the tub's rim. Jodie's arms ached from the strain, but eventually they tossed it to the side.

Within the tub was Madison and another strange woman - though her name alluded her, she recognized her as the same one from the footage in Antarctica. They were folded together, and they both weren't moving.

Neither of them reacted as they were pulled from the tub, their limbs swinging limp as they dragged them out and lay flat on the ground. Their skin was pale and cold to the touch. Jodie glanced up, and for the briefest of moments she saw a look of raw despair painted on Mark and Emma's faces.

"Are they breathing?" Emma whimpered.

Mark cradled Madison in his arms, brushing her hair from her face. "Don't go," he whispered. " _Please_  don't go."

Emma collapsed at his side, clutching the child's hand between her own.

The blonde woman staggered to the ground, taking the dark-haired one that had been found in the tub into her arms. She framed her face.

"Fight it, Elena." she whispered with conviction. "You're stronger than this. Fight  _him_."

_____

Elena woke.

She was in the headspace, the same one she shared with Ghidorah. Bruised yellow clouds curled around her feet as she tread through the storm in her mind. A thick bolt of lightning flash just a few feet ahead of her.

_If you haven't noticed already,_

_We're a bit busy at the moment._

_We aren't really in need of insects scrambling at our feet_

_Or do you just like us that much?_

_I'm not here for you_

_Then do us a favor and get crushed under some rubble_

There was another flash of lightning, and this time Elena was knocked off of her feet, tumbling through a cloud. Ghidorah became nothing more than a black silhouette as she was pushed farther away from the dragon. She stopped herself, arms aching as she tried to push herself back on her feet. Her hands clenched into fists.

 _All you do_ , her voice trembled, but she didn't care.  _Is take. And take. And take. But do you even want it?_

Ghidorah paused, his middle head snaking down toward her.

_Excuse us?_

_You think you're some god,_ Elena stood back up, firmly planting her feet on the nonexistent ground beneath her.  _But you're just acting like a greedy brat_

The clouds began to kick up, swirling into something that wanted to be a storm. Thunder shook the headspace as Ghidorah's heads all came within mere yards of where she stood, surrounding her in a circle of bared teeth.

_We have bled countless worlds dry._

_We have been here long before your kind was even a concept in the universe's mind._

_And we'll be here long after_

_I almost feel sorry for you,_ Elena stepped closer to Ghidorah. Outstretching a hand and placing it on the tip of his snout, she took a deep breath.

_You're just an animal, Ghidorah. And you'll die like one_

Before the dragon had a chance to respond, the headspace began to collapse all around them. The last thing she heard before being sent back to the pitch black void was Ghidorah's trilling roar.

It felt weird, being all by herself. But she couldn't allow that to continue for another second. She had a girl to find.

_____

Madison woke.

Remembering the fear, the tumult that still raged outside, how everything was coming undone right before her eyes, how everything sort of shut off and faded to black. She sucked in a breath, but she found that she could not breathe.

She was still aware, there just wasn't anything to see, feel, or hear. It was like she was underwater, in the dark, all of her senses turned inward. The headspace.

Madison wondered for a moment if she was dead. She tried to move but her limbs just weren't there. Her panic had faded, but now it began to set in once again. What happened to her? If this was the headspace could Elena be here too? Was she even still okay? And where was the Regulator? Were they  _all_  dead?

She tried to shout for help, but found that she didn't have a voice either. She tried sending out a wave of thought, but found that it didn't travel far enough.

Maybe this was it. In her terror to escape the fight, she hadn't been able to see the big picture, unable to sort out who was winning. She flashed back to when they had entered the Common, back to Mothra and Rodan - the giant insect's beautiful, delicate-looking wings caught between the sharp hook of Rodan's beak, both engulfed in flame. Maybe Madison had lead them all to their demise.

She tried again to wiggle her arms and legs, but still nothing happened. It was as if she was suspended in midair. She wondered if she was even in her body anymore. Elena mentioned about bad things happening to those that stayed in the headspace for too long. And in that moment Madison had realized that she had been connected to Mothra  _and_  Godzilla when she blacked out. She messed up. Bad.

She wanted to cry.  _Mom's probably wondering where I am_ , she thought.  _Did she even make it to Fenway?_

In that moment, the void all around her grew just a little lighter.

A faint blue illumination appeared, warm and familiar. It was just a spot at first, but then it began to expand, like she was nearing the end of a tunnel. Maybe she really was dying.

But then the glow took on a form as it grew nearer, and like that time on the roof of the stadium, other shapes began to form around her. Familiar shapes. She knew this place. The sounds of a rainforest began to fill her ears as the void opened up into a monochromatic blue-green forest, complete with birdsong and mist.

Madison found herself back in Yunnan. Everything was there - the containment facility's control room, the bas-reliefs on the temple walls - only it was all illuminated by the same teal light that emanated from Mothra. Madison found that she could move again, and as she walked through its familiar halls. And in the heart of the temple, where she and her mother had been taken from their relatively routine lives, was Mothra. But this time she was no longer just an oversized larva, it was her in her imago form. All slender limbs and downy fuzz complete with brilliant markings on gossamer wings. She was the most beautiful thing Madison had ever seen.

Like before, she felt her connection to the titan. And like before, she reached out to touch her. Only this time, she let her in.

As her fingers brushed against her soft down, Mothra's wings unfolded, splaying out before her. All of her fear was gone now, and for the first time in a long time, she felt at peace. The titan chittered a strange, lovely song. Although there were no words, Madison could understand. It felt as if she was telling her that everything would be alright. Feeling Mothra's heartbeat beneath her hand, for a moment, it harmonized with her own.

As her gaze trailed upward, she noticed something off about the titan. Upon closer inspection, Mothra looked hurt, her wings singed with holes burned through its tips. Madison's brows furrowed with worry.

 _Mothra..your wings_ , she thought.  _Are you gonna be okay?_

The titan laughed wistfully.  _I think I should be asking_ you _that question, young Speaker. But I'm alright, just a little tired is all_

Something about that sent a shiver of dread down her spine.  _You can still get out of here, before Ghidorah -_

 _It's not over yet_ , she interrupted.  _Godzilla..he is strong, but he needs me in ways you may not understand_

 _I wish I could help you_ , she said through a silent sob.  _You don't deserve to die_

 _I won't die, Speaker_ , Mothra lifted her chin with her smaller forelimbs. _For creatures like me, that's just how it is. We're born, we live, and we die, repeating the cycle. This isn't my first time, you know_

Mothra withdrew her claw.  _But if you stay here with me, you just might_

_...I don't understand_

_I've already helped you as much as I can, but if you're here when I..._ Mothra considered her words for a moment.  _This is something I was born to do, and you were not_

_It's not fair_

_I'm sure to something like you, it wouldn't b_ e

In a heartbeat, Mothra's light began to fade, the titan's shape beginning to drift apart. Madison tried desperately to hold onto the vision, but found that it only continued to come apart.

_But don't feel sad for me, young Speaker. Our connection will always exist, and you will live, but now there is something important I have to do. Or else none of us will_

As the titan's shape began to unravel into a million strands of silk, carried off by the nonexistent wind, Mothra was gone, and so was her light.

_Don't go, not yet -!_

_We'll meet again, Speaker. I believe that_

In an instant the headspace reverted back to its blank state, the all-encompassing void. Stretching out endlessly all around her in utter silence.

 _Mothra?_  Madison called out, feeling the connection beginning to fade.  _Mothra?!_

Silence.

Though she could move again, she didn't see the point. Madison was alone. There was no sign of Mothra  _or_  Elena. And there definitely was no sign of her mother. And unlike last time, Mothra hadn't thrown her out like Godzilla had. But she couldn't blame her. Even in the headspace Madison could feel that the titan had grown weak.

Madison curled into herself.

She didn't ask for any of this, didn't ask to be thrown into a world of monsters, to have these strange powers awakened without having any say - no matter how whimsical her mother had made it sound. She didn't hate the titans, even after this she didn't think she ever could. They were just animals after all. But in that moment Madison wished she could go back to that time in Boston, when she was only 6 years old with her brother and her parents. When everything was simple, when she was  _happy_.

And now she was stuck in her own head with no way out.

Madison sniffled to herself, not hearing the muffled shout far in the back of her mind.

But the second time the muffled sound echoed, she did hear it. She couldn't make out what it was specifically, but it kept getting closer. And closer. And closer still until she could clearly hear a person's voice calling out her name.

Elena.

Madison didn't have enough time to register what was happening before her eyes when the woman all but tackled her, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. It was so surreal that she found herself frozen in place. Elena pulled away.

_Are you alright? Are you hurt?_

_Y-Yeah. I think I'm fine, but how are you -?_

_I..I had to clear something up first. But it wasn't hard to find you_

Elena placed a hand on her shoulder.

_Now we have to wake up_

In that same moment, Madison saw a new, harsher light. It wasn't like Mothra's warm, comforting light. Or Godzilla's strong, blue light. And along with this new vision, she heard familiar voices murmuring their names. And crying. She closed her hand and felt her fingers move. Her real ones. Taking a deep breath, smoky air filled her lungs.

Madison coughed as she sprung forward, lungs stinging from the burning air that surrounded her. Not too far away, she heard Elena take in a deep gasp.

And Mom and dad were there, both of them hugging her as they sobbed over her.

 _Maybe I did die_ , she thought.  _This can't be real_.

But her body said otherwise. Every inch of it ached, but whatever Mothra had done seemed to work. Although she was nowhere near back to 100%, she felt just a little better.

"Mom?" she spoke with an audible rasp. "Dad?"

Through the rain that pelted her face, she felt her father pull her into a hug so strong she could barely move. Her mother joined him, wrapping her arms around them both. They said nothing, as all they could do was hold each other while the world raged in the background.

Andrew was gone, and Boston would soon be too. But sitting in the ruins of her old house as fire rained around them, she felt that they were home enough.

But before they could have the chance to release each other, Godzilla's roar bellowed not too far away. And she found that everyone else was staring off into the distance, so Madison wrenched her gaze from her parents to look at the source of the sound as well. She wished she hadn't.

Ghidorah was killing Godzilla.

She didn't understand, couldn't wrap her mind around the sudden switch in circumstances. They had been winning, right? Was this what Mothra was talking about?

As the dots connected within her mind, Madison found herself quickly becoming consumed by fear.

Madison watched helplessly as Ghidorah stalked toward the titan, who looked to be propping himself with a collapsed building. The scutes on his back glowed with a weak blue light that was hardly noticeable above the burning skyline. Godzilla didn't have the chance to get out of the way before Ghidorah pushed himself into the air, springing onto the lizard talons-first like a bird of prey.

The dragon's claws dug into Godzilla's neck, and as his arms weakly grabbed at Ghidorah's legs, he was pushed back with ease.

Ghidorah's tails wrapped around his body, crushing what life remained from him. Madison flinched as Godzilla's dorsal spines cracked from the stress. And then the dragon's wings started to beat, stronger, harder until - impossibly - the two began to ascend. It was slow at first, but the more he flapped his wings the more momentum he built as the titans rose hundreds of feet in the air.

 _No_ , Madison thought.  _No no no no no_.

She felt the world fall apart from beneath her feet. Everything was starting to go away again. She couldn't even feel her parent's arms around her. All she could hear was the beat of Ghidorah's wings and Godzilla's cries of agony.

 _No you too._ ** _Not you_**.

One of the dragon's necks wrapped around Godzilla's, coiling like a boa constrictor. Godzilla struggled to breathe, uselessly clawing at the head until his cries died out with a pathetic, high-pitched whine. His body slackened, head lolling to the side, his arm falling away limply. Ghidorah continued to rise.

_Wake up, Godzilla! Wake up!_

There was no response.

They had risen so high she could hardly see them anymore. If Ghidorah was from space like the Regulator had said, had he left the atmosphere? Was he going to leave the titan in its vast expanse to die?

Madison soon got her answer, and she felt her stomach drop to the floor.

Mercilessly, Ghidorah's claws unhinged themselves from their grasp, and Godzilla slipped away.

Like an angel cast from the heavens, he fell. And as he fell, he began to burn, and as the flames surrounded him he hardly resembled the titan that she knew. He looked like a meteor plunging to earth. Godzilla's roar was lost over the sound of his impact, and Madison could only stand there, slack-jawed. Nobody around her made a sound or moved an inch.

The titan struck the ground like a bomb, a plume of smoke and debris flying into the air. And when the dust settled, Madison saw him lying motionless in the crater his body had carved into Boston.

 _Get up, get up,_ ** _please_** _get up_ , she sent out her thoughts in waves, hoping they would reach him.

The response was far away, and it was hardly audible - so far away from the powerful voice she had grown used to. But it was him.

_I'm sorry. I just gotta rest my eyes for a little while_

_You can't, you'll die!_

Godzilla chuckled weakly. But before he could respond, Ghidorah landed in front of him, bolts of lightning accenting his arrival. He rose above the fallen titan, his electrical charge building, preparing to end their duel.

This couldn't be it. Everyone that had died, everything that had led up to this moment, it couldn't have been all for nothing. With Godzilla dead and the ORCA destroyed, what chances did they have? Not even Elena could control him, and with nothing to keep Ghidorah in check, he would remake the world as he saw fit. And there was nothing any of them could do but watch as the dragon's charge increased, the bottled lightning of a hundred storms building in their throats. Ghidorah's fury was spilling from his mouths, and soon enough he would no longer be able to keep it in.

But like Ghidorah, Madison had been so focused on Godzilla, that she hadn't noticed the small, sharp claw rising from behind the titan's back.

Godzilla seemed to notice it too, a low pained rumble sounding from his throat as he feebly turned his head to watch the torn and battered Mothra pull herself onto him.

 _But you just got back_ , she heard Godzilla whisper.

She could barely stand, but with all the strength she could muster, she stood tall, smoke emanating off of her burning wings as she chittered at Ghidorah. No matter how hard she tried, Madison couldn't understand what she was saying. But her actions had painted a glimmer of an idea in her mind.

Ghidorah hissed, tails rattling as Mothra spread her wings out like a shield, her fading blue light bathing Godzilla in a faint glow.

With one strong push and a defiant screech, she launched herself at the dragon. She could hardly get airborne, and she didn't get far. The lightning in Ghidorah's mouths burst forth, striking through and around her.

With a bright flash of yellow and blue light, Mothra vanished. All that remained was a cloud of glowing particles that refracted every color of the rainbow. Like snow in the moonlight, they began to fall gently upon Godzilla, his body pulsing with a faint orange light.

Godzilla let out a mournful groan, letting his head fall back to the ground.

Madison screamed, suddenly feeling nauseous as she collapsed in her father's arms. A few of the people around her couldn't bare to watch - Elena among them - while others looked on in shock or horror. Everyone was silent.

The dragon's eyes sparkled with dark, insidious glee as he regarded the ethereal cloud that was all that remained of Mothra. Her sacrifice didn't seem to sway him in the slightest as all three heads slithered toward Godzilla. His forked tongues flickered in and out as he hissed, mocking. It wasn't the expression of an animal that had bested another, or of a predator regarding its prey. Ghidorah  _enjoyed_  killing. He lived for it, for the pain it caused, the power it gave.

Godzilla had said  _something_  in response, something so consumed with hatred and grief that Madison couldn't quite catch it. Her ears began to ring. Every sound around her had become drowned out by her hiccuping sobs.

But through her tears, she saw something..weird.

At this distance, it was hard to tell, but it looked like that faint orange light was turning into a dull, reddish-orange sheen, as if lava was welling up from beneath his skin.

Despite everything, she could feel that he wasn't dying. He was growing stronger.

"He's not dead." she muttered.

"What was that?" her dad responded.

"He's not - dead!" she repeated, struggling to free herself from his grasp as she ran toward Elena.

"We  _have_  to distract him, are you still connected?"

"Hold on, distract who?" she said, utterly confused.

" _Ghidorah_  - Godzilla's not dead but he will be if we just stand here!"

Elena struggled to find a response. "I-I can't, I'm not - I had to cut him off to find you. I'm sorry."

Her father turned toward her mother, a sudden look of realization growing on his face. "We have to work fast."

"To do what?" she asked.

He nodded to someone behind her. Suddenly, a woman ran to the jeep behind them and came back holding a battered piece of equipment - the ORCA. Up close, she realized that the woman was Gill's wife. She handed it to her mother.

"You can't be serious." her mother said, looking incredulously at her father.

But he was, and everyone saw it. So they got to work.

"Sam," Jodie spoke into a handheld radio. "We're gonna need a ride."


	15. The Coronation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nothing on earth is its equal -  
> a creature without fear.  
> it looks down on all that are haughty  
> it is king over all that are proud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> early chapter update because some family business came up so i'll be pretty busy for all of friday  
> with that aside, i cant believe we're already at this point,,,it all went by so fast and i cant wait to share the ending with you next monday !! as per usual, thank you sm for reading

Madison watched as her parents began to repair the ORCA.

It had been a long time since they had been together, and even longer since they had worked for a common purpose. It was weird, seeing them like this. It reminded her of how it was before - before they lost Andrew, when her father was sober, and before her mother lost touch with reality. They were becoming almost completely in sync, both working like crazy but somehow not getting in each other's way.

"You sure about this?" her mom asked.

"It's the only way to save him," her dad replied. "We fix it, get on the Osprey, and draw that thing away from Godzilla. Buy him time to get back on his feet."

Her dad connected a wire only to be met with a sharp snap of electricity. The ORCA's cracked screen flickered on for a second before turning back off. He cursed, looking at the device's inner workings with a confused gaze.

"Well this is new."

"I, uh, made a few changes while you were gone."

The Regulator, impatient, pushed her way through them, hands flying to work on the ORCA.

"Could you patch that cable there?" she said, eyes not leaving the jumbled mess of machinery as her mother joined her.

"And who are you?" her dad asked incredulously.

"That's not importa -  _no_ , the red one not the white!"

"Okay, okay!"

"You sure this thing is gonna work?" one of the Monarch soldiers asked.

No one bothered to answer. In fact, they were so caught up in their work that they probably hadn't even heard him. Her mother held up a piece of wire for the Regulator to solder, and Emma's hands flew straight for it like a machine.

"If you replace this five-pin, I can reset the transmitter and everything should work as normally as possible." the Regulator said.

No one had a chance to say anything in response before the ground began shaking again.

Behind them, Ghidorah was already on top of Godzilla, his heads snaking around his body. The heads at his side wrapped around him like coils while the center head bit into his neck. The other two followed suit, and with every bite Godzilla's glow grew weaker while Ghidorah's wounds closed up before vanishing completely. That was when Madison saw Ghidorah lift him up, and she could literally see the dragon absorbing the titan's life, Godzilla's internal fire glowing down all three of his throats. Godzilla let out a terrible, mournful cry. He was dying.

 _Hold on, big guy_ , she thought.

"Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast." Jodie said in a fearful tone.

"Are you good to go?" her dad asked.

The Regulator nodded. She set the solder, her mother sparked it, and her father flipped the switch.

"That's it!" he said, relief in his voice. "That's it."

Overhead, an Osprey descended toward them, floodlights illuminating the wreckage they stood amongst.

Her mom turned to her, gently holding her head in her hands and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Madison wasn't sure how to feel about the sudden act of affection, but there was too much that needed to be said, and there wasn't time for all of it.

"I love you, Maddie," her mother said. "I'm sorry."

All of the hurt, her feelings of betrayal, felt like a knot in Madison's stomach. A single sorry couldn't undo all that had been done, but it felt a little better now. It was a start.

"I love you too." she replied.

Madison knew that it was never going to be the same again. She could never go back to that kid who thought her mother had it all together, knew everything, understood what was best for everyone. No more than she thought of her father as perfect. But that was for the best, right? To finally live in reality and not some idealistic world she had created for herself.

The Osprey touched down, almost immediately her father ushered her toward it. Shortly after, Jodie and the two Monarch soldiers carried the wounded third aboard the rescue craft. Her mother held back, joining the Regulator in fiddling with the ORCA.

"C'mon, Emma, let's go!" her father shouted.

"Take her!" she yelled back, still messing with the controls. "I still have to activate it."

Her father gave her a skeptical look.

"I'm right behind you, just go!" she insisted before turning to the Regulator, the taller woman firmly grasping her wrist.

"Mom?" Madison called after her.

Before she could realize what was happening, Madison felt herself being lifted in her father's arms, suddenly finding herself coming closer to the Osprey. Over his shoulder, she saw her mom and the Regulator activate the ORCA, its heartbeat starting once again.

" _Mom_!"

That was when she saw the Regulator give her mother a strange look, shaking her head so lightly that Madison hardly noticed it. She mouthed something to her mother before finally she let go of the ORCA, taking a few hesitant steps backward before running toward the Osprey. Madison felt her mother's hand press itself against her back, fingers squeezing the fabric of her jacket.

In the distance, she heard a shriek. One by one Ghidorah's heads detached themselves from Godzilla, dropping his limp body to the ground and swung around, searching for the source of the sound they had come to hate. The only remaining threat to his rule.

Elena froze mid-step, just as she was about to board the Osprey.

All three of the monster's heads were trained on them, and with a terrible speed that shook the ground, he knocked down everything that was stopping him from getting to the ORCA. While they had managed to buy time for Godzilla, they were starting to run out of time themselves. Elena had already been face-to-face with this thing enough times to know that she didn't want to be in that position again. Ever. But while every inch of her body told her to run and hide, she felt nothing but hatred for the creature. Hatred and rage.

 _Fight it_ , she thought, thinking of Godzilla even though she knew there was no way for him to hear her.  _Madison believes in you, and goddammit so do I_.

But that was when Ghidorah began to gallop, leaving buildings as nothing but piles of rubble.

"Maddie, thank god." she heard a woman with short black hair say as she lead them aboard the Osprey.

A white-haired man with glasses herded them inside before giving the pilot a thumbs-up. As they each buckled down, Elena almost did a double-take as a woman with long black hair pulled aside in a braid sat across from her, right next to the short-haired woman. They looked exactly alike, and they even seemed to mimic each other's movements. Looking around, taking a mental head count, Elena's brows furrowed.

One of them was missing. It didn't take long for her to realize it was the Regulator. Had she been left behind during the rush to be rescued?

"Hold on!" she yelled to the pilot.

Unbuckling herself, she moved to the front of the Osprey. Out of its doors, she saw that Ghidorah's pace was only quickening, more full of rage than ever. Elena's skin began to prickle.

"We gotta lift off,  _now._ " a woman in a military uniform responded. If Elena was remembering right, she wore the marks of a colonel.

The pilot obeyed the order from their superior, and the Osprey began to rise. But the Regulator still wasn't on board. Elena moved over to the door, reaching her arms out so that she could pull her up when she got there. She still wasn't moving, glued to the ORCA's side.

"Just grab it!" she yelled over the Osprey's whirring.

It was then that the Regulator's eyes met hers, and as she glanced back at the dragon barreling toward them, maws gaping and ready to tear the Osprey asunder - with them inside it - Elena had made a brutal realization.

If they stopped their lift-off to wait for her to get on board, none of them were going to make it. Even if they managed to get just a few yards off the ground, it wouldn't even matter if the ORCA was on board. Ghidorah would follow its sound wherever it went, and Elena knew that he was faster than their sorry little Osprey.

And if the ORCA was turned off, he'd follow them anyway - or rather, he'd follow her  _and_  Madison. And then he would return to finish off Godzilla.

She saw the Regulator's lips form words, she saw the smallest of smiles appear on her face. Sad and serene all at once.

Elena understood.

Walking away from the slowly closing door, she watched as the Regulator stepped into the jeep that Madison's parents had arrived in. As she drove away into the ruins of Boston, the Osprey rose higher. And as she suspected, Ghidorah turned to follow her, seemingly forgetting about the Osprey altogether.

 _Give him hell_ , she thought.

Sitting back down, Madison turned to her.

"Is she..?"

"She's setting things right."

_____

"It's alright," she said, knowing they couldn't possibly hear it over the sound of the Osprey and Ghidorah's stampede. "Just let me have this."

For so long, she had kept her feelings locked away where they could never interfere. Follow orders or be discarded. That was her life, the only life she was allowed to know. But standing in the ruins of the human city, it all came back to her with a frightening ease.

Never in her life had she had the courage - the willingness - to act. But this world, it stood apart from the other innocent planets she had been complacent in destroying. It stood a chance. And she'd be damned if she wasted the opportunity to right her wrongs, no matter the cost.

She saw Elena nod with that same serious face she always wore, brows knit together. Only this time, she bore a lopsided smile as a look a realization grew on her face.

Though no words had been exchanged, the Regulator had seen the same thought in Emma's eyes, but it was something she couldn't allow. She couldn't imagine being the one to live while someone who had been tricked so deviously into an unforgivable crime was the one to die. It was just the next logical step. She knew no one would stop her. Why would they? Up until then she was just another pawn in the Controller's game, a little toy soldier that could easily be replaced. And she was perfectly fine with the thought of dying. She had found a purpose, something she had chosen to do on her own terms.

She just wished she could've thanked Elena for that opportunity.

Taking the ORCA into her hands, she rushed to the car parked just outside where Madison's house had been. Laying the humming machine on the passenger seat, she started the engine and slammed her foot on the gas.

Taking a quick glance back, she saw that her plan was working. Ghidorah had taken a sharp turn, dismissing the Osprey and coming directly after her. His eyes shined in the dark, his usual draconic smirks replaced with furiously bared teeth.

 _Not this time_ , she thought.  _Never again_.

She didn't know how far she would get, but she hoped that it would be far enough. The Osprey was already close to vanishing under the cover of smoke and ash that wafted through the air and into the clouds. Hoping that it would be enough was all she could do at that point.

But none of that would matter if Godzilla didn't wake up.

 _Was_  he dead? The last she had seen of him, he hadn't been moving, limp like a three-hundred-foot ragdoll. If he was, there was nothing they could do. Ghidorah was unstoppable - not even the Controller had power over the dragon. At the very least, if Elena and the rest survived, maybe they could find some way to stop him from tearing the world apart. Even though a part of her knew she wouldn't be around to see it all carried out. But she was undoing some part of the terrible damage she had allowed to take place, and though it couldn't possibly atone for the countless worlds before this, it was the most she could do. And that was alright with her.

The Regulator dodged piles of rubble, swerving down roads that weren't blocked by what used to be buildings, trying to stretch the time was surely running out.

She couldn't stop herself from looking out of the car's mirror, and just as she sped down a narrow path of skyscrapers she saw him. He was right behind her, no more than a meter or two away. His trilling shook her bones, and with each thud from his galloping the car jumped a few inches off of the ground. He was getting faster, as his middle head stretched farther from between his brothers and snapped his jaws at the car, barely missing her by mere feet.

Spinning the wheel, she went careening down a pile of burning debris before entering a flattened area. It was the end of the line.

At that moment, Ghidorah pounced into the air, wings kicking up smoldering rubble and knocking over a building with one misplaced flap of his wings as he hovered close behind. Her face bunched up into an expression of pure frustration as she pushed the pedal all the way down.

As he glided, the left head shot a bolt of lightning her way, striking the pavement just beside her. With an annoyed shriek, the right head tried next, toppling over the top half of a skyscraper as it fell right in front of her. She didn't have the chance to swerve out of the way as the middle head opened his jaws, sending a bolt of yellow lightning directly at the small, banged-up car that scrambled down the blocked road like a trapped mouse.

Everything flashed white.

The Regulator closed her eyes, let go of the wheel, and took a deep breath as a pain unlike anything she had ever felt jolted through her body, twisting every nerve and lighting up her skin like a match. It was like being shot with one of the stunners dialed to a hundred.

But the agony didn't last long. As it faded, she felt herself spin along with the car, rolling, bounding until finally it became propped against something. All she could hear was the sound of fire crackling all around her and the beat of Ghidorah's wings.

Opening her eyes, she found that she had been completely thrown from the car, pieces of glass and gravel imbedded in her skin. Not that it meant much to her. Everything was hurting, but everything was numb at the same time. But that was alright. It was just fine. Rolling over, she stared up at the Golden Demise that crouched low to where she lay, sniffing and snarling.

His signature sneer was back, something self-righteous and proud glinting in all of his eyes. But there was nothing about him that could frighten her in that moment, for there was nothing else he could possibly do to her.

Behind him, her eyes could barely make out a reddish-orange glow growing in intensity from behind him. It was different from the burning city around her. It was alive. Setting her head back down on the gravel, she smiled.

"Long..live....the king." she breathed.

Time to restore balance.

_____

As the Osprey rose above the battlefield, Jodie's gaze tracked the jeep where the strange woman inside vanished behind the thick cover of smoke or piles of debris before reappearing.

She hadn't known who she was, but she had seen her face somewhere before. It didn't quite click with her where at first, but as she watched the little car race out from behind a crushed building, it suddenly came to her. She was the merc that from Antarctica, the one that was holding an unconscious Elena. Why she had a sudden change of heart, she didn't know. But she  _did_  know that she had helped Madison and Elena, and that was enough for her to silently cheer her on.

That is, until Ghidorah swooped down on her like a hammer, blasting the jeep with his lightning. Energy wracked all around it, and the car went flying. After seeing Ghidorah drop low to the ground, heads slithering toward where the jeep had stopped, Jodie looked away.

" _Jesus_ ," Stanton exclaimed, pointing over her shoulder. "Look."

She didn't want to turn back to the inevitable demise of some stranger, but something about his tone made her eyes follow to where he was pointing. Jodie suppressed a gasp, hand flying to cover her mouth.

She was half-expecting to see Godzilla rising from the crater, but instead it was something else, something smaller but far, far faster than the old lizard ever was. Hovering low, wings pressed flat against his body as he dove, was Rodan.

Like a flurry of dancing flames, he burst out the side of a building, barreling into Ghidorah at full force and knocking him off of his path. With a screech, he swooped up, spreading his wings as he came back around like a boomerang.

Ghidorah was on his full defensive now, heads swiveling around to prepare for another attack. His left head wasn't so lucky, as Rodan flared his talons, digging into the dragon's head and hooking himself onto his horns. The left head let out a shriek as the flying reptile's claws dug into his eyes before the right and center heads focused their lightning into a concentrated beam of energy, shooting the firebird square in the chest.

He drew back, landing on the top of a half-demolished building. Squinting through the smoke, Jodie saw that the injury he had obtained during his tussle with Mothra was still glowing, but not even that stopped him from going back at the dragon. The center head let loose another bolt while the left thrashed in pain, trilling and screaming as his brothers fought in his stead.

Stretching out his neck to take a bite out of Rodan's leg, he dodged, weaving out of the way before he banked hard, aiming for the right head like a ravenous hawk. Ghidorah was fast, but Rodan was faster. With one quick swoop, his talons found purchase on the right head's snout, digging deep into his mouth and clawing up toward his eyes. But he couldn't get far, as he felt the center head's teeth wrap around his leg.

With one strong tug, the center head ripped Rodan from his attack, throwing him into a building, shattered glass cascading down on both of them.

Ghidorah looked down at the bird with a burning fury, lightning building in their necks as the center head nipped at his brothers, tugging the left one by his horns to correct his aim. As each of their maws opened for the finishing blow, Jodie saw something.

It was far behind the dragon, but the space where Godzilla's body lay was now an empty crater, smoking pouring from the ignited rubble within. Jodie stood up, bracing one arm against the Osprey's half-open door.

"There.." she found herself muttering, too wrapped up in the scene playing out before her.

Everyone's gaze followed to where she was pointing. Behind her, Madison was leaning out of her seat with wide eyes.

Massively wounded, Godzilla had pulled himself up and out of the crater, staggering toward Ghidorah as the dragon prepared to take out the already injured titan below him. His steps were slow, uncertain, but as he waded through the remains of Boston his strides built up in strength. And as he regained his power, he was glowing a bright red now, pulsing with an inner radiance that leaked through his scales like lava, light spilling from his eyes as if his body was the core of a star about to go supernova. All around him, everything within his immediate radius began to melt, the heat waves coming off of his body distorting the air around him. Rearing his head back, Godzilla roared.

Madison had thought she had seen true power back in Antarctica, when Ghidorah had first awakened with all the bottled rage of an angry god. But looking at Godzilla, the dragon seemed far from powerful. Finally, she heard his voice right at the front of her mind, and she couldn't help but grin.

_Checkmate, asshole_

It was then that Ghidorah's center head whipped around, hissing as the rest of his brothers turned their attention to the massive heatwave behind them. Rodan took his chance to slip out from under his talons, flapping his wings to get as high into the air as he could.

With an insulted trill, Ghidorah's middle head spit out a stream of lightning, but the titan just took it, hardly even flinching. He continued stomping forward, the bright red pulsing around him growing brighter and stronger. The dragon backed away, taking a single tentative step back as Godzilla's pace was unimpeded. Ghidorah, unwilling to back down completely, let out three simultaneous shrieks, flaring their horns in defiance as his necks struck out like snakes.

Despite his wounds, the titan never slowed, only stopping to curl into himself as the pulsing around him grew so bright Madison thought he was about to explode. And in a way, he did. The scutes on his back crackled with light, blue streaks mixing with the thermonuclear red. The pulses running up and down his spine became so fast they were blinding. She had to shield her eyes when the pulses condensed, expanding into a massive wave of radioactive energy.

For a brief second, squinting through the light that filtered between her fingers, Madison could have sworn she saw something within the wave, something like gossamer wings flying out of Godzilla's back and toward Ghidorah. Mothra's chittering cry echoed in the back of her mind.

The wave phased through Ghidorah, knocking him down as it burned straight through the thin flesh of his wings as if they were nothing but paper. In a single moment the dragon's wings had been stripped down to the bone. Ghidorah let out an agonizing scream.

On his back, he braced himself up, focusing all three heads on the titan that still lumbered ever closer and letting loose three concentrated beams of lightning. But that did nothing to stop him, if anything, it was only fueling him.

Godzilla released another wave of radiation, and as it expanded around them, the center head recoiled, the screams of his brothers filling the air as the left head was stripped of his scales, sinew and muscle burning away until there was nothing left but bone. The right head disintegrated completely, wilting like a flower from Godzilla's atomic radiance. Their cries died out in an instant as Ghidorah slumped to the ground, writhing like a snake. It was odd, seeing the dragon so small compared to Godzilla. Ghidorah's remaining head screamed.

Taking a step forward, Godzilla's foot collided with his chest, caving it in as the bomb within the titan set off, creating a blinding dome of light over what was once Boston.

Madison's eyes slammed shut as she felt her parents shield her from the light, desperately hoping that they were out of range. As the shock wave from the blast expanded, the Osprey rattled something within the craft sparking and nearly shutting off before starting again, getting swept up into a thermal and continuing its retreat. Everything was still a little shaky, but at least they weren't dead.

 _Godzilla?_  Madison opened her eyes.

She was greeted with a mushroom cloud lifting from the skyline, or what remained of it. Gradually, the cloud began to lift before clearing below. Through the smoke, she could see that almost all of Boston was gone, a wasteland of charred ruins. Streets were burning, the steel beams that held up its skyscrapers were twisted and melted.

Her eyes narrowed, trying to discern where exactly the two titans were only to find no sign of either. Had they been destroyed? She could still feel his connection, it was waning just a bit, but it was there. He had to have made it. He  _had_  to.

Then, something shifted beneath the wreckage, something big. As the thing emerged, Madison waited for Godzilla's signature dorsal spines, but instead a pair of golden horns appeared, followed by a draconic face. Her stomach dropped.

Ghidorah's head continued to rise from the smoke, further and further until she saw something..weird. His neck didn't look right, as it wasn't the slender serpentine neck she was used to. It was then that she understood, as Godzilla rose above the ruins with Ghidorah's only remaining head in his mouth.

Madison flinched when the dragon's eyes snapped open, seeming to stare just past her. Following his gaze, she saw Elena. The two were locked in one last stare-down. The woman felt a sharp chill run down her spine, but she stared back, jaw tightening as she watched him desperately try to wriggle free from Godzilla's jaws. Shaking it like an alligator would, Godzilla shook the head from side to side until a familiar blue glow built up in his mouth. The whirring from his atomic breath grew quicker and quicker until Ghidorah's entire head was glowing electric blue. With one last trill, Ghidorah's head was ripped apart as the titan's fire erupted through him and into the air.

As the blast died out, Godzilla jittered, shaking his head as a little bolt of lightning crackled in his mouth. He turned his head toward the Osprey.

 _Told ya everything would be fine_ , Madison heard him say.

She tried to hide the smile forming along her face. No one else in the Osprey seemed as amused.

Godzilla had won.  _They_  had one. But the world was changed forever. So many cities had been left in ruins, and even more people had died. Despite feeling a glimmer of relief, Madison knew that things weren't just going to bounce back to the way they were. Maybe they never would.

But maybe that was as it should be.

If her mother was right, and with Ghidorah gone, the world could rebuild. The places ravaged by titans would flourish, and maybe someday the smoking remains of Boston would become a sprawling forest. She found herself not minding that at all.

Though, she had to admit, she hadn't wanted it to happen this way. But there was no going back now. It was the dawn of a new world, or the return of a very old one. Hopefully, she thought as she huddled closer to her parents, resting her head on her father's shoulder, they could all find out how they fit into this new era. Together.

Jodie jumped, relaxing after finding that it was Gill who had bumped her arm with her own. She gave her a half-smile, reaching for her hand. Smiling back, she grabbed it, squeezing as they stared at the morning sun poking out from the horizon.

Seeing Godzilla silhouetted by its rays, she thought back to what Chen had said about dragons and redemption. Maybe there was something to that. Sure, they might still have a long way to go to reach the coexistence from Serizawa's vision, but something about this battle felt like a reset. A new start.

"Good thing he's on our side." Stanton remarked.

"For now." Chen replied.

Madison bristled at that comment. He wouldn't turn on them, right? She knew that humans haven't exactly had the  _best_  history with Godzilla, but he had fought on their side.

Right?

" _Look_.." she whispered, unsure if she had said it out loud or to the lizard.

As the smoke faded away into the wind, everyone in the Osprey saw what had grabbed the girl's attention. Even Godzilla seemed to turn to where she was pointing.

Behind him was another titan, one that resembled a cross between a woolly mammoth and a ground sloth, complete with long, sweeping tusks that hung low to the ground. It was ambling slowly, and nothing about it seemed aggressive. Blowing out a puff of air from his nostrils, Godzilla continued to turn as two other titans - one with six long legs and the other resembling a bull with a mountain on its back - continued stalking toward him as well.

But there was more.

Jodie recognized them all, or at least most of them. A hunchbacked MUTO was ambling toward the group, followed by a flock of leafwings native to Skull Island. And quickly gaining on the herd was a Titanus Anguirus, Mokele-Mbembe, Kumonga, Sekhmet, Varan, Kamacuras...dozens of titans with names she couldn't remember fast enough all converging in one place. It struck her as odd. Ghidorah must have called them in, but his cavalry was much too late. Godzilla's gaze roamed over them all as he continued to turn, taking them all in. Sizing them up.

Then, Rodan had swung back around, having saved himself from Godzilla's meltdown. He landed before him, letting out a screech as his wings outstretched toward Godzilla. The firebird didn't sound defeated, or afraid. It almost sounded like he was genuflecting. Like he was in the presence of royalty.

But Godzilla didn't seem too trusting, and rightfully so.

Battered and bruised, the titan was still ready to fight. Letting out a hot puff of air from his nostrils, he snarled. Rodan seemed taken aback, pausing for a moment before laying his wings on the ground in submission. He was bowing.

And one by one, the other titans followed suit, each bowing in their own way.

The sun's first rays filtered from behind him, almost seeming to cast him in a golden halo of light.

 _This planet does not belong to u_ s, Jodie thought, watching as the titans welcomed their new king. It was something she often heard among her peers, a quote from one of Monarch's earliest founding members - Bill Randa. And now, looking out at the primordial scene before her, she couldn't agree more.

"This  _is_  Godzilla's world." Jodie said. "We just live in it."

Godzilla threw back his head and roared until the heavens shook.


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one touch of nature  
> makes the whole world kin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just something fun i'd put here  
> if any of yall were curious abt what i listened to while writing chapters every now and then i made an "official" leviathan playlist lmao  
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-D3tG0RDiUtP_DQr2m3vU0jbonu_Gpxd

Jodie adjusted the mic on Dr. Graham's blazer.

It had been a long time since she had seen her so nervous, not since the mass awakening. But she couldn't blame her. She tried giving her a reassuring smile, but the woman was staring just past her shoulder, at the wall behind them.

"Uh, Dr. Graham?" Coleman cleared his throat as his head peeked through the door. "You're on in about in a minute."

Vivienne snapped to attention almost immediately, and Jodie stepped away. The doctor wrung her hands as she took a deep breath, taking a tentative step towards the door.

It was a big day, one that could potentially take a step toward mending Monarch's relations with the government and the public alike. Or, it could just make it worse. Jodie already felt her heart thunder in her chest, the start of a headache forming in the back of her head. She had suspected the oncoming barrage of conferences and hearings and the like after Boston, but she didn't think it would happen this soon.

"You got this, Viv." she punctuated with a thumbs-up.

The smallest of smiles appeared on her face before she turned away. Taking a deep breath, Dr. Graham stepped through the door, and in the brief moment before it closed Jodie could see the flashing of camera lights illuminate her form. Now, all she could do was wait.

Sitting down at one of the tables in the small, rectangular room, she pulled out her tablet from her bag. Things had been so hectic - what with being tasked with co-running the Monarch archive that Sam had created - that she barely had any time to catch up with her usual journalistic endeavors. She scrolled through the influx of newsletters that had flooded her inbox over the past couple weeks. It was odd, suddenly seeing 'deforestation halts across the globe', '14th species to be taken off the endangered list', and 'coral reefs restored' among other things. The general public was still unsure about titans as a whole, but their importance was undeniable.

Suddenly, she could hear Vivienne's muffled voice from just beyond the door.

"The Rise of the Titans was an unspeakable tragedy, one that we may never truly recover from. And while we've done all we can to track and contain the ones that were released, we have confirmed that they've begun to retreat to their natural habitats on their own. But it seems that is only the beginning. We believe that there are more titans to be discovered, ones that Ghidorah's call was not able to reach."

There was a massive uproar after that, but Jodie drowned them out. Or, tried to at least. Just then, a notification popped up at the top of the tablet's screen. It was a video call - from China's Yunnan Province. Opening it without hesitation, a livestream filled the screen.

It was Gill. Jodie had been waiting in anticipation for the stream to start, as she was just as excited as the rest of the expedition team for the trek into Mothra's temple. Though, Gill probably had her beat in that aspect.

The feed crackled every now and then, the soft fuzz of radiation seeping through the camera. It was dimly lit, but a fair amount of what looked like a tunnel was illuminated by a handful flashlight beams. It looked like they were walking down a spiral staircase, if those stairs had been carved straight out of the earth. Every now and then they would pass by tall, wide pillars. Just ahead of Gill's point of view were two figures leading the expedition.

In the background, just behind the door, the rabble died down and Graham continued with her speech.

"Which is why Monarch is currently developing a more effective means of dealing with the titans that will potentially..inevitably..wake in the coming years. More effective than our current containment facilities. Now, these plans are still in early development but we will make sure to provide you with regular updates as the project progresses. Which leads me to our next point,"

They had been walking for a while now. And every now and then someone would speak, but their voices would be difficult to make out. Just how far down had they gone?

Suddenly, the static on the camera spiked, filling the screen for a brief second before stabilizing. The feed was still fuzzy, but Jodie could tell they had entered a large chamber. As the flashlights fanned out, Gill's camera swept through the chamber.

There was a raised dais in the center of the room, and on either side were impossibly massive statues. They were identical, and they both depicted women standing almost protectively, their arms splayed out, pointing to something between them. Something massive.

Gill and the two figures that had remained ahead of her approached the object, while the others continued inspecting the rest of the room. One of the figures turned around, looking at Gill with raised eyebrows. It was Chen, and it wasn't too out of the question to assume the person by her side was her sister Ling.

They both pointed their flashlights at the object.

"As of now, Monarch will be operating with full transparency. In accordance with the United Nations, 60 years worth of our documentation regarding titans will be freely available to the public. And with each new discovery, there will be no more secrets. No more hiding. In a post-Godzilla world our mission was to provide a means of defense against every titan we uncovered. And now we believe that staying informed is the greatest defense of all."

Gill's camera was facing downward now, glancing at the EKG monitor in her hand. It was steady, but every other few seconds she could hear the beep of a heartbeat. The object on the massive platform was alive. Jodie felt a wave of chills rush down her spine.

Gill and the twins focused their flashlights onto the object, condensing into one beam. Jodie suppressed a gasp as she realized what the object was.

It was an egg, a giant egg about the size of two buses stacked on top of each other. It was a dull blue and yellow, with light white-ish spots accenting the striped pattern. She heard Gill laugh, unbelieving of the find. She turned to face the twins, and they had each lay a hand on the egg, staring up at it with the lightest of smiles on their faces.

 _Covering her bases_ , Jodie thought to herself. She couldn't help but smile along with them.

"We hope that with this new development, we can navigate this new era not just together, but with the titans as well."

_____

_Darkness._

_She couldn't tell if the void she was in was the size of a crawlspace or the entire universe. But what she did know was that it was pitch black, and it was cold._

_She took a step forward, but found that she was frozen. She tried to wriggle her fingers, kick her legs, anything that would allow her the slightest of movement, but it was all futile. Elena could do nothing but silently scream into the abyss, the deafening silence threatening to push at the fabric of her mind._

_She was about ready to give up her struggle until she heard it. The laughter._

_That same lilting cackle._

_It kept echoing throughout the space, three separate sounds melting into something so loud she thought her eardrums would pop. She wasn't sure if she was screaming or sobbing, but she had to find a way out._

_Get out get out stop laughing let me OUT -_

Elena shot up in bed, eyes wide and tear stains trailing down her cheeks. That was the third time that month where she had "The Dream", as she had been referring to it as. With a shaky hand, she wiped the drying trails away with her palms, quietly looking around her room. It was cold, and the blanket was so warm, but yet she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, brows creasing in annoyance as she reached for the alarm that blared in her ears.

She lay there in the stiff bed for a moment, face half-buried in her pillow as she stared ahead in the dimly lit room. There was an ache in her bones that had never quite left her since the battle of Boston, and some days it wasn't anything more than a dull stiffness that would soon fade as the day went on. But there were others where it spread anywhere it could reach, seeping into her limbs and leaving her wanting to never get out of bed again. Today was one of those days.

For all its inconveniences, she couldn't hate the feeling - not completely. She liked to think of it as proof that she was alive. But that didn't mean it wasn't a bitch to deal with.

Eventually, she knew she would have to drag herself up and out unless she wanted someone knocking at her door, so she did. Swinging her legs over the mattress, she pushed herself up, shuffling to the bathroom. Brushing her teeth, the lukewarm water hitting her face in the shower - it all felt hazy through the sheet of grogginess that still clouded her mind. It wasn't until she looked at the time while getting dressed that she finally snapped back to reality.

Grumbling to herself, she shot out into the hall of Castle Bravo's living quarters, messily tying her hair back in a ponytail as she walked.

It wouldn't have taken her so long to reach the command center had she not decided to stop by the mess hall, picking up a cold bagel and a cup of black coffee. Discreetly popping a painkiller in her mouth, she took a swig out of the cup, walking over to the figures standing in front of an array of controls.

"Well, it's about time." Dr. Stanton said, glancing over his shoulder before returning to his screen, staring intently at the steady beeping that came from the monitor. "Tall, dark, and atomic over here isn't the most patient of lizards, you know."

Elena made no comment save for a roll of the eyes as she ambled over to the front of the room, approaching the wide window that took up half of the wall. Godzilla was just on the other side, multiple drones flagging him like remoras with their floodlights trained on his form. He didn't look particularly upset, but he didn't look too happy either. It was hard to tell with him sometimes. But he seemed to be in a good mood nonetheless, or about as good a mood as the newly crowned "king" could be. But that was likely due in part to the minuscule figure just ahead of her.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor was Madison.

She looked up, giving her a quick wave and a small smile. Elena gave her a friendly nod, crossing her arms and trying not to look directly at the titan as she leaned against the window. Elena wasn't too keen on being around the titan even now, but the child had insisted she be there to 'send him off'.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked.

The girl shook her head. "Nah, he's gonna leave in a little while anyway."

She nearly sighed from relief. "Busy schedule, huh?"

"I guess," Madison shrugged. "Says he's got somewhere to be."

Not too far away from them was a large, mobile screen. Hooked up to it with a handful of thick wires was a familiar device. The ORCA 2.0's soft humming thrummed throughout the control room as a series of words appeared on the screen.

**> YOU MAKE IT SOUND SO CASUAL**

Madison snorted. "I'm sure whatever you need to do isn't as dramatic as you say it is."

**> IF ALL GOES WELL**

**> THEN HOPEFULLY IT WON'T BE**

Elena slightly raised a brow, but she decided not to ask any questions. Since Boston, her fear of the lizard had significantly faded, but she still found herself on edge whenever she was around him, no matter how much Madison reassured her.

"You won't be gone long, right?"

**> YOU WORRY TOO MUCH**

**> TINY SPEAKER**

Madison grinned sheepishly at the comment. Smiles like those were rare for her. From her mother's detainment to her father insisting she be given a "proper" education outside of Monarch's programs, Elena suspected the time she spent using the new and improved ORCA were moments of relief. It almost reminded her of..her. Or at least a long lost version of herself.

In that moment, Godzilla's eyes wandered from the girl over to Elena. She felt herself stiffen, but the lizard himself didn't seem to notice. At least, he didn't make it obvious that he did. Instead he let out a snort, a trail of bubbles fluttering above him. Madison had tried coaxing her into talking to him, even to say a simple 'hello'. But she wasn't sure if she was ready, not yet.

**> I'LL SEE YOU**

**> WHEN I SEE YOU**

As he began to turn around, Madison waved him off. Elena simply watched, taking a bite out of the bagel still in her hand. With a strong whip of his tail, he shot away from the base. The drones around him returned to their stations, and the ORCA 2.0 quieted as its translation feed shut off automatically.

"Where did he say he was going anyway?" Elena asked as she watched the titan disappear into the blue.

Madison stood up, smoothing out the jacket that had bunched up behind her. In a voice that was all too calm, she answered.

"Skull Island."

_____

Mateo led the men clad in black uniforms down the dimly lit corridor.

Despite their seemingly calm demeanor, they made him nervous, what with their heavy boots and steely gazes. None of them were talkers by any means, but that wasn't what made them seem..off. It was something in the way they acted, the way they spoke that unnerved him. It's not that they didn't act human, it's that they were trying too hard to be. That was especially true for the man that he assumed was their leader. Mateo had known people like him before, hungry for power no matter the cost. He didn't ask many questions, for at this point he just wanted their deal to be over and done with. Despite how uneasy they made him, he couldn't back out now. They were the ones that had approached him, after all.

And even if he  _could_  refuse them, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. The world had been changed forever. Much of his family and friends were either dead or scattered around the world due to the mass evacuations held just mere months before. He hated remembering it, how he could have been there for his family.

He had happened to be out at sea when Rodan woke from his slumber deep beneath the island's volcano, and he had been near enough to witness the drop of a bomb that left the waters lifeless. And during Ghidorah's storm, he had managed to make it to shelter. When it was all over, not many of his old relations were left. But he still had his boat and his fishing gear, even though they hadn't served much of a purpose since then. The island's seas were barren, and all the fish that had been killed during the bomb were poisoned.

But somehow, luck had been with him. He had made a good catch, and the strange men had come to pay him for it. Or they would just kill him and take it without a word.

They didn't look like any of the military folk he had ever seen, but they had a similar air to them. And in his experience, that usually did not bode well. But he had run out of choices, and he couldn't do much other than continue to lead them further down the warehouse.

"It's a brave new world, my friend." he told the leader with the calmest tone he could manage. "Such things as this have become much more valuable since the rise of the king."

The leader said nothing. Mateo swallowed nervously.

"Took nine fishing boats to raise it," he continued. "My men, they don't ask for much. Just enough to help their families."

Finally, he saw the entrance to the room where their prize lay.

"Can't fish here anymore..everything's dead."

As they reached the open warehouse space, he saw his men waiting to the side. They all seemed just as uneasy as him. But not because of the swarm of men behind him, but by the source of the stench of death that permeated throughout the room.

He flipped on the lights, and prayed that it was what they were looking for. His coworkers stepped away from it, recoiling as if it could strike them at any moment.

Even in death, covered in seaweed and barnacles, his once golden scales dulled by decay, Ghidorah's head was still terrifying. He had seen it happen, when Godzilla tore it off with his bare teeth and dropped it in the sea just before the bomb hit. He didn't have the slightest idea as to why these strangers payed him and his men to fish it out, but he knew - vaguely - how much titan parts ran on the market. He refused to dabble in that sort of thing, as something about it made him feel wrong. But evidently, whatever they were planning to do with it, the leader had no such qualms.

The leader stepped into the light, walking so close that he was able to touch the creature. As the white-haired man placed a hand on its slimy, rotting flesh, he stared up at it with an unsettling expression. His eyes were as placid as a lake, almost expressionless, and yet he was smiling. But there was nothing denoting happiness in that smile. It was the sort that his father used to call  _la sonrisa del diablo_.

For the first time since his arrival, the man spoke.

"We'll take it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there it is :') i'm still kinda in shock that this silly little (ok maybe not little seeing how this is the longest thing i've written by far) fic got the attention it did but im glad you guys came along for the ride!! i definitely have more planned for this universe and im by no means ready to leave it anytime soon, but just a warning: something happened in my family about a week ago that's gonna change up my lifestyle for a good while so until then i might not be able to get much writing done, so when the hypothetical sequel will be released is still up in the air, but when it gets here i can only hope you guys are just as excited to read it as i am to write it  
> all updates regarding my fics will be posted @ takenbytheweeds.tumblr.com so feel free to check that out if you want  
> as usual, thank you sm for reading !!


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